Four Bids for SEC and WAC

Led by Vanderbilt and Hawaii, the Southeastern and Western Athletic conferences placed four teams each in the National Invitation Tournament.

Besides Vanderbilt (18-12), other SEC teams in the field announced Sunday night were Georgia (16-14), Florida (14-14) and Auburn (15-12).

WAC teams include Hawaii (19-8), Colorado State (20-8), Fresno State (18-11) and Wyoming (19-8).

Ten teams picked by the NIT have won 20 or more games, led by the gaudy 24-9 record compiled by Pacific and the 23-9 by Gonzaga.

First-round matches in the 32-team postseason tournament will be played March 11-13, with the second scheduled for March 16-17 and the third March 18-20.

The final four teams will play in New York’s Madison Square Garden, with the semifinals set for March 24 and the championship game to be played March 26.

Vanderbilt will open at home against St. Bonaventure (17-14), while Hawaii will be at home to Arizona State (18-13) in one of the top first-round matchups.

Gonzaga will travel to Wyoming (19-8) and Pacific will be at home to Fresno State.

Other first-round matches will have North Carolina Wilmington (20-10) at Wake Forest (15-13), Georgia at Iowa (20-10), Kansas State (17-11) at North Carolina State (16-14), Rider (18-9) at Penn State (15-12), Long Island University (21-10) at Dayton (20-11), and Georgetown (15-14) at Florida.

Also, Ball State (21-7) at Memphis (16-11), Creighton (18-9) at Marquette (18-10), Southern Mississippi (22-10) at Auburn, Colorado State at Minnesota (15-15), and Alabama Birmingham (20-11) at Missouri (17-14).