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North Carolina among NIT field

Sun 14th, March 2010

New York, NY (Sports Network) - Illinois, Arizona State, Virginia Tech and Mississippi State were anointed as the top seeds for the 32-team 2010 National Invitation Tournament.

The field was revealed Sunday night, approximately three hours after the NCAA Tournament disclosed its participants. Some teams that were on the bubble to make the Big Dance will play in the NIT, hoping to make its final four, which slated for Madison Square Garden on March 30, with the championship game two nights later.

North Carolina (16-16), which won the NCAA Tournament last year, is seeded fourth in the Mississippi State region and will open against William & Mary. This is UNC's sixth NIT appearance and first since 2003. The winner of that game will play the victor of Tuesday's matchup between Mississippi State (23-11) and Jackson State.

UAB is seeded second in that region and will play Coastal Carolina, while South Florida faces NC State in the 3-6 matchup.

Illinois (19-14), which lost in double-overtime to Ohio State in the semifinal of the Big Ten Tournament, will not open at home due to a scheduling conflict. Instead, the Illini will play on the road against eighth-seeded Stony Brook Wednesday.

Arizona State (22-10) starts play Tuesday at home against Jacksonville, while Virginia Tech (23-8) hosts Quinnipiac on Wednesday.

In the Illinois bracket, Cincinnati is seeded second and will take on Weber State in the first round. Dayton is seeded third with a first-round date against Illinois State, while Kent State and Tulsa tangle in the 4-5 meeting.

The winner of Arizona State/Jacksonville will face either Seton Hall or Texas Tech. Ole Miss is seeded second and will face Troy, while Memphis takes on St. John's in the other game in the bracket.

Connecticut gained a No. 4 seed in Virginia Tech's region and will host Northeastern on Tuesday. Rhode Island is No. 2 with an upcoming game vs. Northwestern, and Wichita State is third and will face Nevada.

Penn State won the NIT last year, beating Baylor in the championship game.