WVU & RMU Going Dancing, Pitt Heads To NIT
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) –March Madness is officially here and only two local schools will participate in college basketball's biggest tournament.
West Virginia University (23-9, 11-7 Big 12) received an at-large bid into the big dance and will play in the Midwest region.
Their tournament begins on Friday against No. 12 seed Buffalo in Columbus.
Should they advance, they would face the winner of the No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 13 Valparaiso matchup.
The No. 1 seed in the bracket is the 34-0 Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky is the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament.
The other local representative in the NCAA Tournament are the NEC Champion Robert Morris Colonials.
RMU (19-14, 12-6 NEC) beat St. Francis (Brooklyn) in Brooklyn, 66-63 to claim a spot in the tournament for the first time since 2010.
Their reward? A play-in game matchup against North Florida on Wednesday in Dayton at 6:40 p.m.
Should RMU advance, they would enter the tournament as a No. 16 seed in the South region. There, they would face the third overall number one seeded Duke Blue Devils on Friday.
The number one seeds in the NCAA Tournament are Kentucky, Villanova, Duke and Wisconsin.
As for the Pitt Panthers, they were left on the outside of the Big Dance with a 19-14 (8-10 ACC) record.
A rough patch down the stretch and an early exit in the ACC Tournament didn't help their case.
However, Pitt will participate in the NIT Tournament.
They will host George Washington on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the NIT.
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