The 2013 CIT schedule is going to get started on Tuesday night with a slew of games, and the action is only going to get hotter as the tournament rolls on. If your favorite team is playing in the 2013 CIT Tournament, be sure to keep it glued right here to Bankroll Sports, as we will be providing you with CIT previews of all of the games, as well as game recaps and final scores from the first game of the tourney, all the way through the end of this 32-team bonanza.

List Of Past CIT Winners
2012 CIT Winner – Mercer Bears
2011 CIT Winner – Santa Clara Broncos
2010 CIT Winner – Missouri State Bears
2009 CIT Winner – Old Dominion Monarchs

CIT Semifinals Games: CIT Schedule For Saturday, March 30th (3/30/13)
5:00 p.m. ET Evansville Purple Aces @ East Carolina Pirates
8:00 p.m. ET Weber State Wildcats @ Northern Iowa Panthers

With three teams in the heartland of the country playing in the semifinaals of the CIT, Weber State really had no choice but to come on the road to a tough location. This is the first time that the Wildcats are going to be going up against a solid team like Northern Iowa in its gym. This is a game that is expected to be a bit of a tossup game, as is the first game on the CIT docket on Saturday. Evansville hits the road to take on East Carolina, and in spite of the fact that the Pirates are perceived to come out of the “better” of these two conferences, the Purple Aces are the ones laying the points in this one. This could be a huge day for the Missouri Valley Conference, as not only are its last two teams standing in the CIT fighting for the right to go to the CIT Final, but the Wichita State Shockers could be on their way to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament as well.

CIT Quarterfinals Games: CIT Schedule For Wednesday, March 27th (3/27/13)
Oral Roberts Golden Eagles 74 @ Weber State Wildcats 83

Is there anyone out there that is going to be stopping Weber State? The Wildcats are on a tear, and they are out to prove that they legitimately should have been in the NIT in spite of the fact that they were beaten in the Big Sky Final against Montana, albeit on the road. Weber State pulled away in the second half against a very good ORU team that had the ability to come on the road and beat any team in this tournament.

CIT Quarterfinals Games: CIT Schedule For Tuesday, March 26th (3/26/13)
Evansville Purple Aces 84 @ Canisius Golden Griffins 83
Loyola Maryland Greyhounds 58 @ East Carolina Pirates 70
Bradley Braves 77 @ Northern Iowa Panthers 90

What a day it was to be in the Missouri Valley, and what a horrid day it was to be in the Metro Atlantic! We’ll start off in the Valley, where a lot of things went right. Evansville was able to go on the road and knock off Canisius in essentially the same way that Canisius went on the road and won in the second round of this tournament. The Purple Aces stormed back from a nine-point halftime deficit to ultimately win the game in the dying seconds by a single point. Meanwhile, Northern Iowa disposed of Bradley in a battle of two of the Valley teams in this tourney. As bad of a day as it was for the Golden Griffins of Canisius, it was a worse day for Loyola Maryland. The Greyhounds stuck around with East Carolina at the outset of the game, but in the second half, the Pirates just proved to be far too much to tame.

Second Round CIT Games: CIT Schedule For Monday, March 25th (3/25/13)
UC Irvine Anteaters 62 @ Oral Roberts Golden Eagles 76

It was a long way for UC Irvine to have to travel to visit Oral Roberts, and we think that the road woes really hit home with the Anteaters right out of the blocks. Unlike most of the rest of the home teams that ran away and hit in the second round of the CIT in thes second half, the Golden Eagles came right out of the blocks and were scoring left and right. There’s no doubt that this is one of the teams to beat in this tournament at this point.

Second Round CIT Games: CIT Schedule For Sunday, March 24th (3/24/13)
Kent State Golden Flashes 59 @ Loyola Maryland Greyhounds 73

The domination of the home teams continued on the second day of the second round of games in the CIT, as Loyola dropped the MAC reps from Kent State by a dozen points. F Erik Etherly led the way for the Greyhounds by scoring 27 points and pulling down 11 boards.

Second Round CIT Games: CIT Schedule For Saturday, March 23rd (3/23/13)
Eastern Kentucky Colonials 72 @ Evansville Purple Aces 86
Rider Broncs 54 @ East Carolina Pirates 75
Illinois Chicago Flames 51 @ Northern Iowa Panthers 63
Canisius Golden Griffins 84 @ Youngstown State Penguins 82
Tulane Green Wave 72 @ Bradley Braves 77
Air Force Falcons 57 @ Weber State Wildcats 78

Blowouts were the theme of the start of the second round of the CIT, knowing that four of the six games were decided by at least 12 points. Weber State demolishing Air Force was probably the most impressive game of the bunch, knowing that both of these teams really could have been NIT bound this season and arguably should have been. The closest game of the tournament to date came when Canisius went on the road and took down Youngstown State in overtime. The Golden Griffins were down by as many as 19 points against the Penguins, and they stormed all the way back in the second half to get the victory in OT. Canisius was also the only team that went on the road and won on Saturday. The Missouri Valley represented itself well with Bradley, Evansville, and Northern Iowa all advancing into the third round of this tournament.

First Round CIT Games: CIT Schedule For Wednesday, March 20th (3/20/13)
Elon Phoenix 53 @ Canisius Golden Griffins 69
Fairfield Stags 71 @ Kent State Golden Flashes 73
North Dakota Fighting Sioux 66 @ Northern Iowa 77
Chicago State Cougars 69 @ Illinois Chicago Flames 80
Green Bay Phoenix 69 @ Bradley Braves 75
South Alabama Jaguars 73 @ Tulane Green Wave 84
Oral Roberts Golden Eagles 84 @ Texas Arlington Mavericks 76
High Point Panthers 71 @ UC Irvine Anteaters 80
Cal Poly Mustangs 43 @ Weber State Wildcats 85
Air Force Falcons 69 @ Hawaii Warriors 65

If you were a home team on the second day of the CIT, you probably advanced. The best game of the day was the 73-71 win for Kent State over Fairfield. F Derek Needham had 22 points for Fairfield, but it wasn’t enough for the MAAC reps. However, fellow Metro Atlantic Canisius was able to top a very good Elon team.

The Horizon League was represented well with Illinois Chicago taking down the Great West automatic qualifier, Chicago State. The Missouri Valley picked up a couple wins as well with Northern Iowa bouncing North Dakota out of this tournament and Bradley dismissing Green Bay.

Tulane knocked off South Alabama in a battle of regional teams that should be on totally different planes. Oral Roberts and Air Force were the only two teams that went on the road and got the job done. Elsewhere on the West Coast, High Point never had a chance against UC Irvine, while one of the favorites to win this event, Weber State put aside Cal Poly by 42 points for the biggest win of the first round of the CIT.

First Round CIT Bracket: CIT Schedule For Tuesday, March 19th (3/19/13)
Eastern Kentucky Colonels 69 @ Gardner Webb Bulldogs 62
Savannah State Tigers 65 @ East Carolina Pirates 66
Rider Broncs 63 @ Hartford Hawks 54
Oakland Golden Grizzlies 87 @ Youngstown State Penguins 99
Boston Terriers 63 @ Loyola Maryland Greyhounds 70
Tennessee State Tigers 72 @ Evansville Purple Aces 84

The first day of the CIT was an exciting one, to say the least. There were a couple games that came right down to the wire, the closest one of which was the 66-65 win for East Carolina over Savannah State. Eastern Kentucky picked up 26 points from G Corey Walden and represented the OVC well by beating Gardner-Webb. Rider was the only other road team that was able to pull off a victory on the first day of the CIT bracket.

Tennessee State was one of these teams that played really well at home all year long, but the Tigers just never got anything going on the road. Their season finished up with a loss against Evansville. Loyola dumped Boston U in a local clash, while Youngstown State and Oakland played in the highest scoring game thus far in the NIT, with the Penguins taking a 99-87 decision.