Ohio will play in its 2nd postseason tournament beginning Wednesday.
Ohio will play Albany in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational Wednesday at 7 p.m. in The Convo, the Gazelle Group announced late Sunday night.
Gazelle Group has been organizing the CBI since its inception in 2008, and the last time Ohio took part in the tournament was that same year. Ohio defeated Brown in the opening round before losing to Bradley in the quarterfinals.
The 16-team tournament is played at the campus site of the higher seed and is single elimination bracket until the CBI Championship round. The Championship round is played in a best-of-three series with the games alternating at campus sites.
Ohio will play the winner of Houston Baptist (17-16) and UNC-Greensboro (14-18) in the quarterfinals.
Ohio is joined in the CBI by Albany, UNC-Greensboro, Houston Baptist, Siena, Morehead State, Duquesne, Omaha, Nevada, Montana, Eastern Washington, Pepperdine, Seattle, Idaho, Vermont and Western Carolina.
Its the 22nd postseason tournament for the Bobcats, last playing in the College Invitational Tournament in 2014.
MAC teams are 3-7 in the CBI during past eight years. Ohio is 15-22 all-time in national postseason play.
Ohio (21-11) is coming off a 88-74 loss in the Mid-American Conference Tournament to Buffalo. After the loss, Ohio coach Saul Phillips and forward Antonio Campbell said the Bobcats were adamant about playing in the postseason if an invite was extended.
"Listen, they've got 80 gillion 1A football bowl games, why can't we have ours?" Phillips said. "Yes, absolutely, 100 percent, I'll drive the team there and pay for their meals if I have to, or we can host, whatever."
The cost of the tournament was not announced as of Monday morning.
"The CBI has a minimum ticket guarantee, the amount a school pays to host a game: The guarantees are $35,000 for first-round games, $50,000 for the quarterfinals and $75,000 per game for the semifinals and the best-of-three finals," according to a 2012 TribLive.com report.
Ticket sales for Wednesday's game will be $15 each for the lower bowl (100 level), with upper bowl (200 level) tickets being $10 each. Tickets went on sale Monday at 10 a.m.
Ohio students will be admitted free of charge.
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