Although the Bobcats failed to hear their name called for the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday, the winningest senior class in program history has another chance to further its legacy after accepting a bid to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).
Ohio will host Cleveland State (21-11) in the first round of competition Wednesday. The Bobcats lead their all-time series with the Vikings 9-2, though the teams have not met since the 1999-2000 season.
The invitation marks the fifth consecutive year the Bobcats have been selected for a postseason tournament, which is a program record. Ohio is also one of just six Division I schools to make five-straight postseason appearances in football and men’s basketball.
The Bobcats have not played in the CIT since the 2010-11 season, when they defeated Marshall before falling to East Tennessee State in the second round.
“The CIT will provide our student-athletes with the opportunity to compete for a championship while gaining valuable experience in post-season play,” said Director of Athletics Jim Schaus in a news release. “It’s also a chance to continue to build our program for future success.”
Because the CIT doesn’t have a bracket and matchups are chosen after each round, the Bobcats (23-11) could ad
vance to play a pair of Mid-American Conference foes in Akron and Eastern Michigan, which are also part of the 32-team field.
Western Michigan won the MAC Tournament on Saturday and is the only team from the conference represented in the NCAA Tournament.
Ohio’s invitation comes on the heels of a 83-77 loss to Akron in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament, during which senior guard Nick Kellogg paced the team with 25 points. Kellogg, along with fellow seniors T.J. Hall and Ricardo Johnson, were members of the Bobcats the last time the team competed in the CIT.
Although Ohio unraveled late in the second half against Akron, Kellogg said the Bobcats’ inability to make shots ultimately hurt them.
“We executed I thought pretty well for the most part,” Kellogg said. “Some of (the shots) just didn’t drop for us, that’s the way it goes sometimes, but I thought our execution and our effort for the most part of the game was pretty good.”
Cleveland State bowed out of the Horizon League Championship on Saturday with a semifinal loss to Wright State. The Vikings played games against five MAC opponents this season, besting Ball State and Kent State and falling to Akron, Eastern Michigan and Toledo.
Akron and Eastern Michigan are the only other MAC teams to qualify for the CIT, and Toledo — the MAC runner-up — earned a bid to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
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