As expected, the Blue Raiders (24-9) did not receive a second-straight invitation to the NCAA tournament. But when their hopeful bid to the NIT did not come, MTSU did not seek a spot in another tournament — the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) or the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) — as decided by the seniors.
MTSU finished the 2013-14 season with 24 wins, the third-most in program history. It was topped only by the previous two seasons (27 wins in 2011-12 and 28 in 2012-13).
The Blue Raiders earned a share of the Conference USA regular-season title, but they lost the NIT automatic bid to Louisiana Tech by tiebreaker. When bubble team Southern Miss did not receive an NCAA tournament at-large bid, it was a no-brainer for the NIT’s 32-team field.
MTSU is the only team among the four tied for the C-USA regular-season title that will not play in the postseason. Tulsa beat MTSU in the C-USA semifinal on Friday and defeated Louisiana Tech in Saturday’s final for an NCAA tournament automatic bid.