Kent State accepts 2019 CollegeInsiders.com Tournament bid

It wasn’t known if Kent State would be invited to dance in the postseason after they were eliminated by Central Michigan in a 4/5 upset in the MAC Championship Tournament in Cleveland last week, but indeed, the Golden Flashes nabbed a bid, accepting an invitation to the 2019 CollegeInsiders.com Tournament (CIT.)

The Golden Flashes (22-10, 11-7 MAC) will travel cross-country to face the University of Louisiana-Monroe (ULM) Warhawks (18-15, 9-9 Sun Belt) at Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, Louisiana in the first round of the CIT.

It will be Kent State’s first postseason tournament since the 2017 NCAA Tournament as MAC Tournament champions, when they lost to second-seed UCLA in the Round of 64. It will also be Kent State’s first appearance in the CIT since 2015, when they advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament.

ULM, who finished sixth in the Sun Belt regular season standings, was eliminated in round two of the Sun Belt Championship Tournament in New Orleans, Louisiana, by Georgia Southern. ULM’s resume highlights include a rivalry win vs. UL-Laffayette (ULL) and a win vs. NCAA Tourney-bound Georgia State (as well as a one-point loss.)

The Warhawks will seek to defend home turf, where they’re 15-2 on the season, while Kent State will look to take a win on the road to improve on their 8-6 road record.

The game will be played on March 21 at 8 p.m. EST and will be televised on WatchCIT.com, with the winner receiving the Lou Henson Classic Trophy.

The winner of this game will find out their opponent after a re-seeding based on results of the Classics and regular games, as the CIT uses the old NIT unset bracket configuration.