Toledo (27-6, 14-4 Mid-American Conference) will continue its record-breaking season with an appearance in the 77th annual National Invitation Tournament.
The Rockets will visit Conference USA regular-season co-champion Southern Mississippi (27-6, 13-3 C-USA) Wednesday, March 19, at 8:30 p.m.
The game in Hattiesburg will be available for viewing on ESPN3 and also will be broadcast on the Rocket Radio Network, which includes WSPD-AM 1370 locally.
The Eagles and Rockets possess the top two ratings percentage indexes in the 32-team field at No. 31 and No. 37, respectively. UT is the No. 6 seed in its region, while USM is the No. 3 seed.
The winner of the Toledo-Southern Miss contest will face the winner of Tuesday’s game pitting No. 2 seed Missouri (22-11) and No. 7 seed Davidson (20-12) on a date to be determined.
Toledo is making its eighth NIT appearance in school history and possesses an all-time record of 3-7 in the event. Its last victory was a 76-67 home triumph over South Alabama in 2001.
The Rockets captured a share of their eighth regular-season MAC title this season, posting a school-record 27 victories before falling to Western Michigan in the MAC Tournament title Saturday night.
Southern Miss is undefeated at home (14-0) and finished in a four-way tie for first place in Conference USA with Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee and Tulsa. The Golden Eagles lost in their conference semifinals to Louisiana Tech by an 88-70 margin.
