March 12, 2012

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Two Mountain West teams will participate in the 2012 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) presented by Zebra Pen, the organization announced Sunday evening.

TCU and Wyoming are two of 16 teams that comprise the postseason tournament. The Horned Frogs will play host to Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the opening round on Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, while the Cowboys will face North Dakota State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. MT at the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyo.

A league record-tying six men's basketball teams have received postseason bids in 2011-12. The MW also sent six teams into postseason action in 2001-02, 2002-03, 2008-09 and 2010-11. Colorado State, San Diego State and UNLV received at-large bids into the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship, joining Mountain West tournament champion and automatic qualifier New Mexico in the 68-team field.

The Mountain West is one of five (Horizon, Ivy, Summit, Pac-12) conferences to have multiple teams in the CBI's 16-team field. The CBI presented by Zebra Pen is a single-elimination tournament up until the "best-of-three" Championship Series, with all games played at campus sites. After the Opening Round games, the Quarterfinal Round will take place on Monday, March 19, followed by the Semifinal Round on Wednesday, March 21. Prior to the semifinals, the remaining teams will be re-bracketed. The Championship Series is a best-of-three in which one team will host two of the three games. Those games will be played on March 26, March 28, and March 30.

TCU (17-14) vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee (20-13)
Tuesday, March 13 - 7 p.m. CT
Daniel-Meyer Coliseum - Fort Worth, Texas

• This will be TCU's first meeting with Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

• The selection will mark TCU's first postseason tournament appearance since advancing to the quarterfinals of the 2005 NIT.

• The winner of the TCU-Milwaukee contest will take on the winner of Western Illinois-Oregon State on Monday, March 19.

• The MW is 1-1 against Horizon League opponents this season, as Air Force earned a 55-34 decision over Wright State and Wyoming lost at Green Bay (44-52).

Wyoming (20-11) vs. North Dakota State (17-13)
Wednesday, March 14 - 7 p.m. MT
Arena-Auditorium - Laramie, Wyo.

• Wyoming is 2-0 all-time against North Dakota State. The Cowboys won the most recent meeting, a 97-63 decision in Laramie on Dec. 20, 1965.

• Wyoming is making its second appearance in the CBI after hosting Northeastern in 2009. This is Wyoming's 24th appearance in a postseason men's basketball tournament, including appearing in 14 NCAA Tournaments, eight National Invitation Tournaments (NIT) and now two College Basketball Invitationals.

• The winner of the Wyoming-North Dakota State contest will face the winner of Washington State vs. San Francisco on Monday, March 19.

• The Mountain West is 2-0 this season against teams hailing from The Summit League, as New Mexico secured a 87-62 decision over UMKC and Wyoming notched a 67-56 victory South Dakota.