The inaugural tournament drew rave reviews from many coaches, players and media members in 2008. The newest addition to the postseason scene had the entire tournament play out, including the unique "Best of Three" Championship Series. Tulsa ended up winning the title, 70-64, in front of a sold-out crowd at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa.
Tulsa Head Coach Doug Wojick had the best comment about the tournament after winning the title.
"This is priceless for us. This tournament... it is the best thing going. We would have both been in the NIT anyway had that not changed and this is better because we've been able to play on home courts... we've been able to capture something that myself and (Athletic Director) Bubba (Cunningham) could never do with a marketing plan, so it's awesome."Many of the coaches echoed the same sentiments as Wojcik, meaning that the CBI already has a foothold with several of the Division I coaches. In fact, games in the CBI were, on average, closer (7.1 ppg difference) than the other two postseason tournaments. And something that school presidents and professors will like... less class time missed. Tulsa and Bradley missed a combined three days of class during the Championship Series, while Ohio State and UMass missed a combined 10 days while playing in New York City for the NIT championship.
This all started when the NIT shrunk to 32 teams and started to give out automatic bids to regular season conference champions that didn't win their postseason conference tournament.
So get ready everyone, the CBI is coming back to a town near you... and the excitement is sure to follow.
