BYU basketball to learn postseason plans

PROVO — The BYU basketball team is expected to receive a National Invitation Tournament bid Sunday.

After NCAA tournament berths are announced Sunday afternoon, the NIT will unveil its selections (7 p.m., MT, ESPNU).

Several NIT bracketologists project the Cougars (21-11) as a No. 4, No. 5 or No. 6 seed in the tournament. BYU could host a first-round game.

The Cougars finished with a 3-5 record in their final eight games.

Any regular-season champion of a Division I conference not selected to the NCAA tournament earns an automatic bid to the NIT. The NIT selection committee then chooses the best available teams to create the 32-team field. Once selected, teams are seeded and placed into one of four eight-team regions.

The first three rounds are hosted at campus sites of participating teams. First-round games will be held March 19-20. Second round games will be staged from March 21-25 while quarterfinal games will be played March 26-27.

The NIT Final Four will be staged at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The semifinals are April 2, with the championship scheduled for April 4.

BYU hasn't played in the NIT since 2006, in coach Dave Rose's inaugural season at the helm of the program. The Cougars have played in the NCAA tournament in each of the past six years.