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PROVO — BYU's NCAA Tournament fate was sealed last week with a loss to Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference tournament semifinals.
But there will be postseason basketball in Provo.
The second-seeded Cougars will host No. 7 seed Alabama-Birmingham in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament at 8 p.m. MT Wednesday. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and KSL NewsRadio.
The berth is BYU's third NIT bid in 10 years, and marks 11 straight seasons of postseason participation — a program record. The Cougars were a No. 6 seed in 2006 and a No. 3 seed in 2013, when they made a run to the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The Blazers (26-6) are Conference USA regular season champions, one of 15 regular-season champs to earn automatic berths in the 32-team NIT. UAB lost to Western Kentucky, 88-77 in the C-USA tournament first round.
But Hilltopper coach Ray Harper called the Blazers a legitimate NCAA contender.
"Guys, they've won 26 games now," Harper said during the postgame press conference. "I don't know if they'll get in or not; I'm not on that committee — but they sure should be."
The winner will face the winner of Virginia Tech and Princeton. If BYU (23-10) wins in the opening round, the Cougars will host that match up.
BYU's resume contained wins over NCAA tourney teams Gonzaga and Weber State, which both clinched bids via the respective conference tournaments. The Cougars also hold a win over NIT top seed Saint Mary's — but losses to Portland, Pacific and Long Beach State likely hurt their resume.
Upstart emotional favorites Monmouth earned a top seed in the NIT, along with St. Bonaventure, Valparaiso and South Carolina. NIT top seeds are always the first four teams out of the NCAA tournament.
Saint Mary's also earned an NIT No. 2 seed. The Gaels will host Western Athletic Conference regular-season champion New Mexico State in the first round. The Aggies lost to Cal State Bakersfield on a buzzer-beater in the WAC tournament final late Saturday night.
BYU's host possibilities could also be affected by non-basketball factors. The Cougars' home court, the Marriott Center, will be used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as part of the cultural celebration for the Provo City Center Temple on Saturday, and the Cougars would likely have had to vacate the building before the weekend.
