Georgia Tech’s season will extend past the ACC tournament for the first time since 2010.
The Yellow Jackets will play Houston in the first round of the NIT on Wednesday at 9 p.m. The 32-team field was announced Sunday night following the release of the NCAA tournament bracket. Tech, which is 19-14 and has won six of its past eight games, received a No. 4 seed in an eight-team quadrant headed by No. 1 seed South Carolina.
Houston, the No. 5 seed, finished in a tie for third in the American Athletic Conference. The Cougars, coached by Kelvin Sampson, are 22-9 and had a 12-6 league record.
Among teams that Houston has defeated this season – Temple, Tulsa, SMU, Connecticut and Cincinnati. All but SMU are in the NCAA tournament, and SMU would have been had it not been banned from the tournament for major rules infractions. Like Tech, Houston also finished strong, winning nine of its past 12 games.
For Tech, it will be an opportunity for its five-member senior class to continue playing, a chance that team members looked forward to after being eliminated from the ACC tournament by Virginia in the quarterfinals. For most team members, it will be their first postseason experience. With a win, the Jackets will win their 20th game of the season, something that only 11 Tech teams have accomplished in its ACC era, and only four times beginning with the 1996-97 team.
Should the Jackets beat Houston, they would play the winner of the South Carolina-High Point game, with the higher seed given the first option to host the game. Second-round games run Thursday through next Monday.
Quarterfinal games will be played at on-campus sites March 22 and 23 with the winners going to New York for the semifinals March 29. The championship will be played March 31.
The other matchups in the eight-team bracket are No. 2 San Diego State-No. 7 IPFW and No. 3 Washington-No. 6 Long Beach State.
Three teams earned at-large bids with 18 wins, Alabama, Creighton and Washington. Tech was one of five teams to receive an at-large bid with 19 wins. Florida, Florida State, Georgia and Virginia Tech were the others. Tech, FSU and Virginia Tech are the three ACC representatives in the field.
There were only 17 at-large spots available, as 15 teams claimed automatic bids given to teams that won their conference regular-season title but did not win their league tournament and did not receive at-large bids. The 15 automatic bids were the most the tournament has handed out since it adopted the format in 2006.
Tech’s participation in the event comes with an unusual subtext. Indications are that athletic director Mike Bobinski will not make a decision on the future of coach Brian Gregory until the Jackets are finished playing.
Tech is selling tickets to the first-round game for $15. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-888-832-4849 or going online to ramblinwreck.com.
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