Kent State accepts CIT invite

Fresh off their heartbreaking MAC Tournament semi-final loss to Akron, Kent State accepted a bid to the College Insider Tournament. They'll take on the Fairfield Stags out of the other MAC, the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference. Fairfield finished the season at 19-15 (9-9) and had a couple of good wins over St. Joseph's and Iona.

This will be the second straight season the Flashes have played in the CIT, bowing out badly at USC-Upstate last year. Kent State has not missed post-season play since the 2006-2007 season, which is pretty impressive. That year they finished 21-11, and had the CBI or CIT been available to them then they probably would have taken the opportunity.

To host one game in a lower-level tournament like the CIT costs the university $35,000, which is a lot considering the total amount brought in per game. Breaking it down, they'd have to have 3,500 people in the stands at $10 a ticket to break-even. That's not counting concession sales, but Kent may be hard pressed to break-even considering the last game played at the MACC only brought in 2,853 fans (against Bowling Green). On top of that, if Kent State continues to win, they would have to pay that amount each time if they wanted to continue hosting.

While it's great that Kent State's seniors get to continue playing, it may come at a financial loss to the university as a whole.