this is awesome. the Utes are still playing on despite the NCAA teams getting bounced left and right. i hope the Utes win this thing even though they are playing for essentially 98th place in the country. but playing ball is playing ball. it can only help the utes in the offseason.

I didn't even know the Utes were still playing. This is much less interesting than even a high school state tournament.

I think it's fun to still be able to watch basketball. May the season be extended tonight!

I love that fact that the team is getting these extra games. It's great for a building program to still be playing in a tournament against quality teams, on the road no less. Go Utes!

while I am just a bitter/jealous BYU fan, Utah does gain a ton of valuable experience, I just wouldn't call any of the teams they play "quality".

First UTEP and now Tulsa! Now this is a tournament. One where our local teams can play teams as bad as we are. Why couldn't BYU play in this one??? Oh yea, they had a good season record. So here is the key to success...Lose!

Where can we watch these games? And if we can't watch them, "Who Cares" says it all.

March Badness.

So, we have a 64-team tourney + 1; and 32-team tourney; and now... a 16-team tourney... what's next?

I can understand some fan interest in giving the teams that got snubbed by the NCAA tourney a chance to prove they belonged in the Big Dance; but, what is the point of having the CBI.

Oh well, good luck to Utes!

At least you'll get a little extra post-season experience.

apparently the cougars only use that key in the postseason because THEY ALWAYS LOSE. figure out how to win a game in the postseason, then make fun of the Utes for taking advantage of extra time to practice as a team.

This tournament, for all but the seniors, is only meaningful for preparing and improving the Utes for next year. As much as BYU's experience losing to Texas A&M - hard to say. I suspect BYU should be more motivated next year, but would have thought that after BYU's loss last year as well.

Regardless the Utes are still practicing and playing when all other MWC teams are done. No harm in that.

The CBI is a function of (1) the NCAA taking control of the NIT and a desire on the part of some to have a tournament independent of the NCAA and (2) the NIT dropping from 40 to 32 teams, in effect cutting eight teams that would have played in previous years.

With 340 or so Division I basketball programs, the 113 in post-season play still represents about 1/3 of the teams.

The tournament will provide the young Utah team--who lost quite a few close games this year, many in overtime--extra experience for the future.

Good luck Utes tonight at Tulsa.

I am very happy for Jim Boylen and the running Utes. Sure they lost a few games in the last minute or by 2-3 points, but this is good for the team and won't hurt recruiting, plus the national exposure is always good. No excuses BYU had a good year and Utah didn't have the sucess as the Cougars , but I'll take any tournement in March- the practise and the exposure could be most helpful in the long run. I know that Luke Neville could use the extra game time and Jonny Bryant can showcase a bit.
I am always proud of all basketball that is played in this state. SLCC , Utah State , Weber State , Utah, the " Y " and UVSCC all have excellent programs and do the state proud !