Cougs likely to play in CBI

College of Charleston men's basketball coach Bobby Cremins said Friday he expects the Cougars will be playing on the road when postseason play begins next week, and they most likely will be competing in the College Basketball Invitational.

"We've probably got about a 10 percent chance to go to the NIT," Cremins said, adding that he and athletic director Joe Hull have had conversations with officials of the National Invitation Tournament, the two-year-old College Basketball Invitational and the new kid on the block, the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

The latter two tournaments feature 16-team fields that will be announced Sunday after the brackets for the NCAA (65 teams) and NIT (32 teams) have been completed. The NCAA Tournament begins Tuesday with a play-in game. The other three tournaments also begin Tuesday.

A member of the selection committee for the CollegeInsider.com Tournament said The Citadel is under "serious" consideration for that event.

"Both teams are in serious running," Rich Zvosec said of the Cougars (26-8) and Bulldogs (20-12). "Both have had tremendous years."

Citadel athletic director Larry Leckonby said the Bulldogs "would be more than ecstatic" to play in the postseason. But there have been no discussions this week between the school and officials from either the CBI or CollegeInsider.com, he said.

"I was in contact with them toward the end of the regular season," Leckonby said. "But I have not heard from them since."

The College of Charleston reached the championship game of the Southern Conference Tournament, losing to Chattanooga.

"We would be a road team right now, for the NIT should we get in, and the College Basketball Invitational. At this point, with the economy the way it is, I think it probably would be better to go on the road," Cremins said, making note of the guarantees required by the three tournaments. To host an NIT game requires a $100,000 guarantee, while the College Basketball Invitational requires $60,000 and the CollegeInsider.com asks for a $28,500 guarantee.

Virginia was the top-seeded team in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational but lost to Bradley in the semifinals. Tulsa beat Bradley in the best-of-three championship series.

Guard Tony White Jr. said the Cougars were excited about their postseason prospects after the disappointing 80-69 loss to Chattanooga, which earned the Southern Conference's automatic NCAA bid.

"Fortunately, we get a chance to play more basketball," White said. "We get to come in and practice and get ready for a postseason tournament. Right now we don't know which one we're playing in. We're still excited."

Senior Dustin Scott said he wished the Cougars were going to be playing in the NCAA Tournament, "but there's a lot of good teams out there. There's no doubt we're a good team. I feel like we deserve an NIT bid.

"We're just practicing for some postseason play," Scott said. "Whatever tournament we're in, we're going to go out and play hard."