{"id":7607,"date":"2015-03-12T07:27:04","date_gmt":"2015-03-12T11:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=7607"},"modified":"2015-03-12T07:27:04","modified_gmt":"2015-03-12T11:27:04","slug":"jmu-to-face-usc-upstate-in-college-insider-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=7607","title":{"rendered":"JMU to Face USC Upstate in College Insider Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CIT<\/a>Yesterday we ran a poll on the blog asking folks if JMU should play in the CIT or CBI tournament. The 78% of you who voted “Yes” are going to be happy. It was announced yesterday afternoon that JMU has accepted an invitation to play against USC Upstate. The game will take place on the road in Upstate’s Hodge Center, which has a capacity of 818 fans. <\/p>\n

I didn’t vote in the poll, but if I did, I would have voted “yes.” The CIT requires host teams to pay a fee, so my only concern was that JMU would pursue a home game. Thankfully that didn’t happen. The extra game and practice experience is worth it. Paying for probably isn’t.<\/p>\n

SC Upstate isn’t a household name, but it’s a good match-up. The Spartans have won 23 games this season, including 14 in their home gym. They played the ACC’s Georgia Tech tough and hung in their against a dangerous Maryland team, before losing by 10. They narrowly missed out on an NCAA bid by falling to North Florida in the Atlantic Sun Tournament final. They’re no pushover and will be a good test for the Dukes.<\/p>\n

The CIT format is a little quirky, in that there is no bracket. Second round match-ups will instead be determined by geographic proximity. This definitely isn’t a chance for massive exposure, but playing in the CIT gives Coach Brady and the Dukes a chance to improve some more and wash the bad taste of the Hofstra loss out of their mouths. And it’s more hoops for us fans. Win-win.<\/p>\n