South Alabama's season is over after the team's NIT invitation was rescinded in a manner head coach Richie Riley called "unacceptable."
Riley told AL.com that he was informed late Sunday evening his team had been invited to the NIT due to UC Riverside declining their invitation because of a previous commitment to play in the College Basketball Invitation, a non-NCAA affiliated tournament.
However, shortly after Riley informed his team they would be playing in the NIT, UC Riverside was able to get out of its commitment to the CBI and accepted their NIT bid.
"... I tell [Sun Belt Conference commissioner Keith Gill and NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt], 'I'm gonna tell my guys.' They're like 'go ahead.' So I tell the team," Riley told AL.com "[Gill and Gavitt] call back, whatever time it was, 10:45, 11 o'clock. Dan's like 'no, UC Riverside is back in. I hate that we had to do this.'
"This is unacceptable. You can't do that."
The NIT and the Sun Belt conference called South Alabama's invitation premature in statements released Monday and apologized to the program.
"As the top remaining at-large team not selected to the original field, South Alabama was prematurely contacted by the NIT on Sunday as a potential replacement team to fill out the 32-team bracket," the Sun Belt said in a statement. "With all 32 teams accepting their NIT invitations, this opportunity did not materialize. We regret the emotional impact this chain of events had on South Alabama's student-athletes and want to congratulate Sun Belt Coach of the Year Richie Riley and his team on a historic season, including a Sun Belt regular-season co-championship."
The Jaguars finished the season 21-11 and lost in the conference tournament semifinals to Arkansas. UC Riverside finished 21-12 and third in the Big West. They are scheduled to play Santa Clara in the first round of the NIT on Tuesday.
