For only the second time under Jim Boeheim, the Syracuse men’s basketball team will play in the NIT in consecutive years.

Syracuse (19-13) will face Robert Morris (26-7) in the first round of the NIT Tuesday at 8 p.m. at the Carrier Dome (ESPNU). The Orange is a No. 1 seed in the tournament after it was a No. 2 seed last season, when it lost at Clemson in the quarterfinals.

A record-tying eight Big East teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament, but Syracuse was not among them. This year will mark the first back-to-back NIT appearances since 1980-81 and 1981-82 and only the second time under 32-year head coach Boeheim.

‘Everything is about the NCAA. In my mind, in their mind, if they’re not in the NCAA Tournament it’s not a good season,’ Boeheim said last Wednesday following Syracuse’s 82-63 defeat to Villanova in the first round of the Big East tournament. ‘That’s just the way it is.’

Villanova made the NCAA Tournament as a 12 seed, one of the final at-large bids to be handed out.

The winner of the Syracuse-Robert Morris game will take on the winner of Minnesota-Maryland at a date to be determined. As a No. 1 seed, Syracuse could host three games if it keeps winning. View the complete NIT bracket here.

Robert Morris, located in the Pittsburgh suburb of Coraopolis, Pa., was the regular-season champion of the Northeast Conference and earned an automatic bid to the NIT.

Tickets will go on sale midnight tonight for SU season ticket holders. At noon Monday, tickets will be on sale to the general public. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for SU faculty, staff and students.

Return to dailyorange.com for updates. The Daily Orange resumes its print edition on Tuesday, with full coverage of the NIT as well as the women’s basketball NCAA Tournament.

Published on March 15, 2008 at 12:00 pm