The NCAA Tournament field was revealed on Selection Sunday as 68 teams made the cut. The others are now left for various postseason tournaments including the CBI and NIT.
Both the CBI and NIT revealed their fields after the March Madness bracket was released, and some notable programs are playing in those events.
One of them is UC Riverside, which finished 21-12 but lost to Cal Poly in the first round of the Big West tournament.
UC Riverside defeated Colorado State and UC San Diego, both of which made the NCAA Tournament, but an early exit left out of the bubble conversation.
UC Riverside Highlanders forward Kyle Owens (0)
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
While UC Riverside missed out on March Madness, the Highlanders earned an invite to the NIT…and the CBI.
After the Selection Sunday show, the CBI posted a graphic of their bracket with UC Riverside in the fold.
A couple of hours later, the NIT revealed that UC Riverside was in its bracket.
As such, fans were puzzled that the Highlanders were found in both the CBI and NIT brackets initially.
“UC RIVERSIDE IS IN BOTH THE NIT AND CBI OH MY GOD,” one fan wrote.
“wow this is crazy,” another said.
“????????” another user replied.
“Whoa, how the hell did this happen?!?” another fan asked.
“I’m so confused but we’re obviously winning both,” another said.
“Not sure how they are doing this but that’s awesome!” another stated.
A Wichita State beat writer gave some insight on the situation as well.
While it was a weird situation, the CBI later posted another bracket, and UC Riverside was not on it.
So, after a wild twist, UC Riverside will play in the NIT against Santa Clara on Tuesday. It is March, indeed.