CBI Bracket 2017: The bracket and story lines

The 2017 CBI bracket was released Sunday night, and is headlined by a pair of A-10 teams.

Here’s the bracket:

UPDATE: Due to inclement weather, the Stony Brook-UIC game has been bumped to Thursday at 8 p.m. ET

George Washington senior Tyler Cavanaugh, who was named to the A-10’s all-league second team, will extend an accomplished career. The Colonials finished the regular season on a 6-1 run, which included a win over Dayton on March 4. They open against Toledo, which finished 9-9 in the MAC and beat Kent State, the league’s eventual NCAA representative, by 30 points on Feb. 11.

George Mason, which opens against Loyola (MD), also has an A-10 all-league second teamer in the mix. Senior Marquise Moore (10.9 RPG) led the conference in rebounding despite standing just 6’2, and was named the A-10’s most improved player.

Wyoming, which had a seven-game non-conference winning streak, will be appearing in its fifth CBI since 2009. The Cowboys open against Eastern Washington and Big Sky POY Jacob Wiley, who scored 50 points at Northern Colorado on Feb. 11.

Elsewhere in the bracket, Georgia Southern will be making its first postseason trip since 2006, while UMKC will be making its first ever postseason appearance. Hampton will be playing in the CBI after consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament, while Coastal Carolina will be making its seventh postseason appearance in the last eight years.

The CBI may indeed be the consolation’s consolation. But it can still mean a lot to the programs that are involved.

Last year’s CBI champion, Nevada, made the NCAA Tournament this season as the No. 12 seed in the Midwest region. Wolf Pack coach Eric Musselman gushed about the experience after his team won the title.

“A great, great year,” Musselman said. “If anybody ever would have said that we’d be standing with a win heading into the offseason and have 24 wins the first time we got together, I wouldn’t have believed it. My sons were with me the first time I saw us play open gym and I said, ‘I don’t know whether to cry or resign.' These guys did an unbelievable job of sticking with it and being in great physical condition, and I couldn’t be happier to see them rewarded to finish the season the way that we did.”

Will this year’s CBI champion be sitting in the same position a year from now?