2018 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament

The 2018 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) was a postseason single-elimination tournament of NCAA Division I basketball teams. The tournament began on March 12, 2018, and concluded on March 30, 2018.^[1]

2018 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament

Season	2017–18
Teams	20
Finals site	Bank of Colorado Arena, Greeley, Colorado
Champions	Northern Colorado (1st title)
Runner-up	UIC (1st title game)
Semifinalists	Liberty (1st semifinal) Sam Houston State (1st semifinal)
Winning coach	Jeff Linder (1st title)
MVP	Andre Spight (Northern Colorado)
Attendance	26,023
CIT tournaments «2017 2019»

The field was composed of participants who belong to "mid-major" conferences and who were not invited to the NCAA tournament, the National Invitation Tournament, or the College Basketball Invitational.

Participating teams

The following teams received an invitation to the 2018 CIT:

Team	Conference	Overall record	Conference record
Abilene Christian[2]	Southland	16–15	8–10
Austin Peay[3]	OVC	18–14	12–6
Central Michigan[4]	MAC	19–14	7–11
Drake[5]	MVC	16–16	10–8
Eastern Michigan	MAC	21–12	11–7
Fort Wayne[6]	Summit	18–14	7–7
Hartford	America East	19–13	11–5
Lamar	Southland	19–13	11–7
Liberty[7]	Big South	20–14	9–9
Louisiana–Monroe	Sun Belt	16–15	9–9
Niagara[8]	MAAC	19–13	12–6
North Carolina A&T[9]	MEAC	20–14	11–5
Northern Colorado	Big Sky	22–12	11–7
Portland State	Big Sky	20–13	9–9
Saint Francis (PA)[10]	NEC	18–12	12–6
Sam Houston State	Southland	19–14	12–6
San Diego[11]	WCC	18–13	9–9
UIC	Horizon	17–15	12–6
UTSA	C-USA	19–14	11–7
Wofford	Southern	21–12	11–7

Format

The CIT uses the old NIT model in which there is no set bracket. Future round opponents are determined by the results of the previous round.

Postseason classics

In 2016, the CIT introduced the Coach John McLendon Classic as the first "Classic" game to ever be played during a postseason tournament. For 2017, the CIT introduced three more "Classic" games, for a total of four, all to be played in the first round. In 2018, a fifth "Classic" was added.

Coach John McLendon Classic
Hugh Durham Classic
Lou Henson Classic
Riley Wallace Classic
Jim Phelan Classic

The winners of each Classic received a trophy and advanced to the second round or to the quarterfinals if they received a second round bye.

Schedule

• Wofford, Northern Colorado, Portland State, and Sam Houston State received first round byes.
• Liberty, UTSA, Austin Peay, and UIC received second round byes.

Date	Time*	Matchup	Score	Attendance	Television
First round
March 12	12:00 pm	Central Michigan at Fort Wayne (Hugh Durham Classic)	94–89	1,234	CBSSN
	2:00 pm	Abilene Christian at Drake (Lou Henson Classic)	73–80 OT	3,565
	6:00 pm	North Carolina A&T at Liberty (Jim Phelan Classic)	52–65	486
	10:00 pm	Hartford at San Diego (Riley Wallace Classic)	72–88	893
March 14	7:00 pm	Niagara at Eastern Michigan	65–83	1,138	CBS Sports Live watchcit.com
	8:00 pm	Saint Francis (PA) at UIC	61–84	1,137
	8:00 pm	Lamar at UTSA	69–76	1,012
March 15	8:00 pm	Louisiana–Monroe at Austin Peay (Coach John McLendon Classic)	66–80	1,228
Second round
March 16	7:00 pm	Central Michigan at Wofford	98–94	1,448	CBS Sports Live watchcit.com
March 17	10:00 pm	Portland State at San Diego	64–67	1,019
March 18	5:00 pm	Drake at Northern Colorado	72–81	1,074
March 19	7:30 pm	Eastern Michigan at Sam Houston State	62–69	322
Quarterfinals
March 21	8:00 pm	UIC at Austin Peay	83–81	1,121	CBS Sports Live watchcit.com
	10:00 pm	Northern Colorado at San Diego	86–75	1,053
March 22	8:00 pm	Sam Houston State at UTSA	76–69	1,352
March 24	2:00 pm	Central Michigan at Liberty	71–84	476
Semifinals
March 28	7:00 pm	UIC at Liberty	67–51	2,248	CBSSN
9:00 pm	Sam Houston State at Northern Colorado	80–99	2,019
Championship
March 30	7:00 pm	UIC at Northern Colorado	71–76	3,198	CBSSN
*All times are listed as Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4). Winning team in bold.

Bracket

Bracket is for visual purposes only. The CIT does not use a set bracket.

	First round March 12–15				Second round March 16–19				Quarterfinals March 21–24				Semifinals March 28				Championship March 30
	Saint Francis (PA)	61
	UIC	84			Bye
					UIC
									UIC	83
	Louisiana–Monroe	66							Austin Peay	81
	Austin Peay	88			Bye
					Austin Peay
													UIC	67
	Central Michigan	94											Liberty	51
	Fort Wayne	89			Central Michigan	98
					Wofford	94
									Central Michigan	71
	North Carolina A&T	52							Liberty	84
	Liberty	65			Bye
					Liberty
																	UIC	71
	Niagara	65															Northern Colorado	76
	Eastern Michigan	83			Eastern Michigan	62
					Sam Houston State	69
									Sam Houston State	76
	Lamar	69							UTSA	69
	UTSA	76			Bye
					UTSA
													Sam Houston State	80
	Abilene Christian	73											Northern Colorado	99
	Drake	80*			Drake	72
					Northern Colorado	81
									Northern Colorado	86
	Hartford	72							San Diego	75
	San Diego	88			Portland State	64
					San Diego	67

Home teams listed second.
* Denotes overtime period.