Kent State, Bowling Green and Western Michigan land CIT spots

The CollegeInsider.com Tournament schedule was released Sunday night and three MAC teams will be participating in the tournament of 32 teams: Western Michigan, Bowling Green and Kent State.

The Broncos open with Cleveland State (18-14, 11-5) of the Horizon League at University Arena on Wednesday at 7. The Vikings made it to the semi-finals of their conference tournament before falling to the number one seed Valparaiso at their home court. Penn State transfer guard Trey Lewis leads the Vikings in scoring at nearly 17 points per game and forward Anton Grady scores almost 14 per game. Both players were First-Team All-Horizon League.

Bowling Green drew a road game at St. Francis University in Pennsylvania on Tuesday at 7. The Red Flash finished fifth in the Northeast Conference with a 9-9 conference record and a 16-15 overall record. Senior forward Earl Brown leads the team in scoring at nearly 16 per game, but no other player scores in double-digits.

Meanwhile, Kent State was matched up with Middle Tennessee out of Conference USA. The Blue Raiders (19-16, 9-9) went all the way to their conference tournament championship game before losing to UAB. Akron is the only common opponent for the two schools; Middle Tennessee beat Akron in overtime at the JAR and Kent State was only able to beat Akron once on a buzzer beater.

The CIT doesn't do a bracket format. After each round they match-up teams based on geography and which teams are willing to pay to host a game. In some circumstances, one of WMU, BG or Kent State may end up playing another MAC team in the tournament.