49ers to compete in preseason NIT Tip-Off

The Charlotte 49ers men’s basketball team will compete in the Dicks Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament on November 16 and 17, 2009. The NIT Tournament is a prestigious one and 2009 will mark the 25th anniversary of the initial tournament.

The 49ers will compete in the East Regional, held at Duke University in Durham, NC. Duke, a three-time winner of the event, will represent the ACC and will face the Big South Conference’s Coastal Carolina University in the first round. Charlotte will represent the A-10 and will face Southern Conference representative Elon University in the first round. Should the 49ers and Blue Devils win their first-round games, they will face off in a second-round matchup on November 17 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The West Regional, being hosted by Arizona State, will feature the aforementioned Sun Devils, the TCU Horned Frogs, Cal State Northridge and Texas State University-San Marcos.

Louisiana State University, of the Southeastern Conference will be the host for the South Regional that includes Indiana State University, Western Kentucky and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

UCONN will host the North Regional and will play Colgate University in the first round, while Hofstra University, of the Colonial Athletic Association will play Yale University.

The regional games will be played on November 16 and 17, while the consolation bracket will be played out on November 23 and 24. The Championship round will be played in New York City’s Madison Square Garden for the “First Four” semifinal and final doubleheaders, November 25 and 27.

First and second-round games will be played at the home campus of the four highest-seeded teams. The winners of those regional tournaments will move onto New York City for the Semifinals and consolation game. The remaining 12 teams will play in third and fourth-round games on the home campus sites of the three highest remaining seeds.

Charlotte’s first game following the NIT Tournament will be a home game against East Carolina University on December 2, 2009 at 8 p.m.