Stephen F. Austin headed on the road in NIT opener

The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks knew they were headed to the NIT after their 69-66 loss to Northwestern State in the semifinals of the Southland Conference tournament Thursday. Now they know who and when they are playing their first-round game.

The Lumberjacks (26-5) open the 71st National Invitational Tournament as a No. 7 seed at 5 p.m. Tuesday against No. 2 seed Massachusettes (21-10) on the Minutemen’s home floor. Two Big 12 teams — Oklahoma State and Nebraska — are also in the tournament field of 32 teams.

SFA, which is making its first NIT appearnace since 1987, was assured an automatic berth in the tournament, thanks to its regular-season SLC championship. NIT rules state that any team winning its conference regular-season but not its tournament title and the NCAA bid that goes along with it earns an automatic bid.

UT-Arlington earned the SLC’s automatic NCAA Tournament berth by defeating Northwestern State in Sunday’s 82-79 win over NSU in the title game.

Oklahoma State (17-15) begins play at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Southern Illinois (17-14), while Nebraska (19-12) plays host to Charlotte (20-13) at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

The first three rounds are played at home sites, with the semifinals (April 1) and championship (April 3) being played at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Two other teams in the field include last year’s pairing in the NCAA championship game — Florida and Ohio State, which earned one of the four No. 1 seeds along with Virginia Tech, Arizona State and Syracuse.

The Gators are the two-time defending NCAA champs, but won’t get the chance to make it three in a row.

The College Basketball Invitational, a new tournament added to this year’s postseason, was to have announced its 16-team field Sunday but had not as of press time.