UTEP Accepts CBI Invite, Hosts Fresno State Wendesday

After spending all day glued to Twitter, the CBI bracket was finally released pitting UTEP and Fresno State to open things up Wednesday at the Don Haskins Center, no official time but 7:05 PM would be a safe guess.

Fresno State finished 17-16 overall, 9-9 in the Mountain West, and were 5-9 on the road this season.

The Bulldogs were bounced in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Tournament by New Mexico 93-77, though had won 9 out of their last 12 to finish the season.

Paul Watson was named Mountain West Freshman of the Year for Fresno, he lead all freshman in the conference in rebounding, while averaging 8.6 points a game.

Tyler Johnson was named second team All-Mountain West thanks to a 16.5 scoring average, while securing 7.6 rebounds a game.

This is the third time UTEP has participated in the CBI, falling to Oregon State back in the 2009 final.

The winner between Fresno State and UTEP will face the winner of Tulane and Princeton on March 24th.

Other teams of note: Texas A&M, Oregon State, Penn State and Old Dominion, only 5 CBI teams have 20-plus wins, UTEP, Princeton, Stony Brook, Morehead State, Radford.

The rumor of the CBI game with Fresno State started from a reliable poster on the Miner Illustrated board, and was finally confirmed Sunday night.

UTEP is the only team in field with a top 100 RPI.

Here is the complete bracket.