Oklahoma St., Rutgers, Oregon, Clemson snare NIT No. 1 seeds

Hours after finding out that they failed to make the NCAA tournament field, Oklahoma State, Rutgers, Oregon and Clemson were given No. 1 seeds in the National Invitation Tournament on Sunday night.

The Cowboys, a team that NCAA tournament committee chair Chris Reynolds specifically mentioned as receiving strong consideration on the bracket reveal show, will take on Youngstown State on Wednesday.

“When you look at the resume, they had 18 opportunities in the Quad 1, and they won only six games,” Reynolds said of the Cowboys (18-15), mentioning their most difficult games. “And they had opportunities in the nonconference schedule to win some games to enhance their resume, and they fell a little short.”

Cowboys coach Mike Boynton disagrees. At the Big 12 tournament last week, he told reporters that “I thought we did enough to get in (the NCAA Tournament) before we got here.”

Rutgers, who finished 19-14 after its stay in the Big Ten tournament, will take on Hofstra on Tuesday, and could wind up taking on Cincinnati — a former conference foe when the two schools were in the Big East — in Round 2.

“I’m not apologizing for postseason play here at Rutgers,” Coach Steve Pikiell said. “Obviously, our goal at the beginning of the year is the NCAA tournament. But, we’ll have to shift quickly here.”

The Ducks also finished at 19-14, and will play host to UC Irvine on Wednesday. Should they advance, a Round 2 date against a team from the Sunshine State awaits, as Florida will take on UCF in the same bracket, also on Wednesday.

A 23-10 season, and a tough ACC slate, wasn’t enough to get the Tigers into the NCAA tournament, but Clemson will take on Morehead State on Wednesday. Should Clemson advance, it would meet the winner of the UAB-Southern Miss matchup.

The NIT final four will be held at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas March 28-30.