NEW YORK - The George Mason men's basketball team will have a
chance to face some of the best competition early in the upcoming season as it
was announced Wednesday that the Patriots are among the 16-team field of the
2011 Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off.
Mason, the fifth overall seed
in the tournament, will square off against Florida International in the first
round. The game will be played at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va. A win
over the Golden Panthers would advance the Patriots to the second round, for a
date against the winner of No. 4-seed and host Virginia Tech against Monmouth. A
first-round loss by the Patriots would put them in the East Regional
Consolation game against the loser of the Hokies-Hawks contest.
The first- and second-round doubleheaders will
be played November 14-16 on the campuses of the four highest-seeded teams--
Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State and Stanford.
Should the Patriots pick up a
pair of victories in Blacksburg, they will advance to the semifinials in New
York City, playing a pair of games at Madison Square Garden on November 23 and
25. The remaining teams will play third- and fourth-round doubleheaders
November 21-22 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.
"It is a great event. We are
certainly looking forward to playing some quality teams including FIU," said
head coach Paul Hewitt, who leads the team into the tournament in his first
season at the helm.
The Patriots are 2-0 all-time
against the Golden Panthers of FIU, last recording a 86-68 victory on Dec. 21,
2007 in Miami. Mason also topped FIU a year earlier in Fairfax, 65-39. Against
Monmouth, Mason is 3-2 all-time while the Patriots are 1-1 against Virginia
Tech. This will be the fourth time that Mason has taken part in the Preseason
NIT event.
Other sites and pairings are
as follows:
- The North Regional will take place at Syracuse, where the
Orange will host Manhattan and Albany squares off against Brown.
- The Midwest Regional will be played at Oklahoma State,
with the Cowboys taking on Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Oral Roberts battling
Texas-San Antonio.
- Stanford is the host team in the West Regional and will
play Fresno State in one half of the doubleheader, while Colorado State takes
on SMU.
ESPN will provide coverage
throughout the event, televising games on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com.
Games on ESPN and ESPN2 will be simulcast on ESPN3.com. Game dates and times
are to be announced.
The Patriots' full
non-conference schedule will be released in August while Mason's Colonial
Athletic Association slate will be announced in early fall.
