The 2011 college basketball postseason kicks off in earnest today with play-in games for the 2011 NCAA basketball tournament and first round action in the 2011 NIT. However, if you really want to cover your gambling fix, we’ve got an even greater array of college basketball to bet on. The 2011 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) and CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) both have a full slate of games today, including a pair of Bay Area teams.
The San Jose State Spartans travel to Nebraska to face the Creighton Blue Jays at 5:00pm pacific in CBI first round action. The winner of this matchup will then face the winner of James Madison and Davidson in the March 21 quarterfinals. SJSU is a heavy underdog tonight as they are listed as a nine to ten point underdog against the Blue Jays. SJSU is 14-13 against the spread, while Creighton is 15-13 against the spread.
Later tonight at 7:00pm pacific the Santa Clara Broncos host the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. The Broncos are a 4 to 4 1/2 point favorite over the Lumberjacks. Interestingly enough, NAU is 14-5 against the spread, while Santa Clara is 11-15-2 against the spread.
What’s interesting about the CIT is that they use the old NIT model of bracket in which second round matchups are determined by the results of the first round as opposed to a pre-set bracket. They want to cut down on travel and keep teams as close to their geographic region as possible. Given that, Santa Clara could potentially face Bay Area rival San Francisco, WCC rival Portland, Hawaii, Idaho or Air Force depending on results today and tomorrow.