NIT SEASON TIP-OFF AT McKALE CENTER LINKS:
— Arizona coach Sean Miller will take part in a coaches clinic at Fairleigh Dickinson (Kingston, R.I.) this Friday
— Rhode Island, a former Atlantic 10 rival of Miller’s when he coached at Xavier, is coached by Dan Hurley (Bobby Hurley’s brother who went on to become a successful high school coach). Former UA graduate assistant Luke Murray, son of comedian actor Bill Murray, is part of Rhode Island’s staff.
— Never heard of Metro State? The Roadrunners play up the road in Denver and they reached the NCAA Division II title game last season.
The Arizona basketball team knows which teams it must beat to make the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off event at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
The NCAA released the entire field today and the Wildcats are the No. 1 overall seed. Duke, Alabama and Rutgers are the other top four seeds (in order) of the field and they will host first and second-round doubleheaders Nov. 18 and 19. Arizona and Duke are on opposite parts of the bracket, which means they can play each other the championship game.
Arizona will open against Farleigh Dickinson of the Northeast Conference at McKale Center. The winner of that game will play the winner of the Rhode Island (Atlantic 10) and Metro State (a Denver-based Division II power out of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference).
The winners of the preliminary rounds advance to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 27. The consolation and championship games will be played Nov. 29.
The remaining teams will play third and fourth-round doubleheaders Nov. 25 and 26 on the campuses of the three highest remaining seeds. Participating teams will not play any team twice and the third and fourth-rounds will be assigned to the most geographically compatible site possible.
REGION LOCATION VENUE MATCHUPS
West
— Tucson, Ariz. McKale Center: No. 1 Arizona vs. unseeded Fairleigh Dickinson/No. 5 Rhode Island vs. unseeded Metro State
East
— Durham, N.C. Cameron Indoor Stadium: No. 2 Duke vs. unseeded UNC-Asheville/No. 7 East Carolina vs. unseeded Norfolk State
South
— Tuscaloosa, Ala. Coleman Coliseum: No. 3 Alabama vs. unseeded Stillman/unseeded Georgia State vs. unseeded McNeese State
North
— Piscataway, N.J. Rutgers Athletic Center: No. 4 Rutgers vs. unseeded Canisius/No. 6 Elon vs. No. 8 Drexel
The 2013 NIT Season Tip-Off will be carried by the ESPN family of networks, televising games on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3. All game broadcasts will also be available on WatchESPN.
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