Fresno State learns its basketball postseason fate. When the Bulldogs play next

Fresno State did not get into the NIT or the CBI, but it will play at least one more game in The Basketball Classic.

The Bulldogs, who are 19-13 and lost in the quarterfinal round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament, accepted an invitation into the 32-team tournament and will play Eastern Washington on Thursday at the Save Mart Center. Tip for the game is scheduled for 7 p.m.

It is the Bulldogs’ first postseason appearance since 2017 when losing to TCU in the first round of the NIT. They last played in the NCAA Tournament in 2016 as a No. 14 seed, after winning the Mountain West Tournament.

The Mountain West had four teams make it to the NCAA Tournament – conference and tournament champion Boise State as a No. 8 seed in the West, Colorado State a No. 6 in the South, San Diego State as a No. 8 in the Midwest and Wyoming as a No. 12 in the East with a play-in game against Indiana.

Utah State was selected ahead of the Bulldogs in the NIT, though Fresno State finished ahead of the Aggies in the Mountain West and won the only head-to-head meeting between the teams.

The Aggies (18-15) are significantly higher in the NCAA NET ratings at No. 60, and had two wins against Quad 1 teams and were 3-1 against Quad 2 teams.

Fresno State is ranked No. 73 in the NET ratings, was 0-8 in Quad 1 games and 3-3 in Quad 2 games with some near-misses that would have burnished an NIT resume.

The Bulldogs were one play at the defensive end away from a win over Boise State on Jan. 28 at the Save Mart Center and one made shot away from a March 3 road win at San Diego State. They lost five regular-season conference games by five points or less, four of them against teams that are in the NCAA Tournament.

Eastern Washington (18-15, 11-9 in the Big Sky) lost to Northern Colorado in the quarterfinal round of the Big Sky Tournament. The Eagles are led at the offensive end by 6-7 guard Steele Venters and 6-6 forward Linton Acliese, who are averaging 16.6 and 16.2 points per game.

Venters led the Big Sky in 3-point field goal percentage, knocking down 43.1% of his 197 attempts.

This story was originally published March 13, 2022 at 9:10 PM.