St. Francis Brooklyn had its sights set on its first NCAA Tournament bid, the favorite to reach the Big Dance after winning the Northeast Conference regular-season championship for the first time in more than a decade.
But after suffering a devastating three-point upset loss at home against Robert Morris in the title game Tuesday, the Terriers (23-11) were given a No. 8 seed in the NIT and will play at top-seeded Richmond (19-13) in the first round on Wednesday night. The game will mark St. Francis Brooklyn’s first postseason appearance since 1963, also coming in the NIT.
If the Terriers pull off the upset, they would face the winner of No. 4 UConn-No. 5 Arizona State in the second round.
Back-to-back MAAC regular-season champion Iona (26-8) will make its second straight appearance in the NIT, earning a six-seed.
The Gaels’ high-tempo offense will face Dan Hurley and third-seeded Rhode Island (22-9) on Tuesday night in Kingtson, R.I., with the winner playing No. 2 Stanford/No. 7 UC Davis.
NJIT (18-11), coming off a program-best season, which included its monumental upset at Michigan, will play in its first-ever postseason game, hosting New Hampshire (19-12) in the first round of the CIT on Monday night in Newark.
Long Island will be well represented in the CBI, with Stony Brook (23-11) traveling to Georgia to face Mercer (18-15) and Hofstra (20-13) hosting Vermont (18-13). Both games will be played on Wednesday night.
While St. Francis Brooklyn’s men’s team was unable to win its conference championship game against Robert Morris, the school’s women’s team stunned the Colonials, 77-62, in Sunday’s title game, sending the Terriers’ into the women’s NCAA Tournament for the first time.
St. Francis Brooklyn (15-18) became the first team to win the Northeast Conference Tournament championship with three consecutive road victories, also becoming the second team to win the title despite having a losing record.
The Terriers are just the 10th team to reach the NCAA Tournament despite having a losing record.
“I’ve always loved the underdog story and I think this is the definition of a pure underdog,” said Sarah Benedetti, who scored 29 points in the title game. “It just feels awesome.”