STEPHENVILLE – Upon just their third year of reclassification to NCAA Division I and on the heels of their first D1 winning regular season, Tarleton has accepted an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational.
Tarleton MBB will continue their season at the 2023 Discount Tire College Basketball Invitational, which is regarded as one of the top national postseason tournaments at the Division I level.
“When the season starts, it’s every team’s goal to be invited to compete in the postseason,” said head coach Billy Gillispie. “We are extremely happy to be one of the teams selected this year.
“These players have played their hearts out for Tarleton State University and are as deserving as any team in the country to still be playing,” he continued. “We have had a lot of outstanding moments in our Division I journey with even better things in store for the future and this tournament is a springboard for perennial postseason success.”
Tarleton, who was tabbed as the No. 7 seed, will open their CBI run against No. 10 seed Radford on Sunday, March 19 at 2:30 p.m. CT / 3:30 p.m. ET. Radford competes in the Big South conference and went 19-14 (12-6) on the season.
“Radford is a very tough opponent that has a rich basketball tradition,” said Gillispie. “It will be a great challenge and honor to play against their team. We’re very excited for this opportunity and will put our best foot forward and represent Tarleton State on the national stage.”
The Texans are one of 16 teams who will participate in the CBI, held March 18-22 at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. It will be a single-elimination tournament with first round games on March 18-19 to be televised on FloHoops. The quarterfinals will take place on March 20, also televised on FloHoops, followed by the semifinals on March 21 and championship game on March 22. The semifinals and finals will be televised on ESPN2.
This is Tarleton’s first postseason national tournament at the D1 level in program history, and the second in all of Tarleton Athletics’ history.
The Texans are 17-16 on the season, posting their most wins in a single season at the D1 level. They just participated in their first ever WAC Tournament and won their opening round matchup against UTRGV.
This will be the 15th College Basketball Invitational, a tournament that began in 2008 and has ran every year except for 2020, canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Winners of the event starting with the most recent; UNC Wilmington, Pepperdine, South Florida, North Texas, Wyoming, Nevada, Loyola Chicago, Siena, Santa Clara, Pittsburgh, Oregon, VCU, Oregon State and Tulsa.
“We have some of the best fans in the country and I hope Texan Nation joins us in Daytona to help us represent one of the hottest schools in the country,” said Gillispie.
Tickets for the tournament can be purchased here.
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