Armed Forces Sports

Army Black Knights Men's Basketball Season Not Finished Quite Yet

Army may were knocked out in the first round of the Patriot League tournament last Thursday, but that doesn't mean their season is finished yet.

Jacob Moss

Action from Wednesday's men's basketball game between Fairleigh Dickinson University and Army West Point on November 20, 2024.
Action from Wednesday's men's basketball game between Fairleigh Dickinson University and Army West Point on November 20, 2024. / Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Army Black Knights capped off their regular season with a 16-14 regular, and were knocked out of the Patriot League conference tournament by the Colgate Raiders last Thursday. Their early conference tourney exit doesn't mean the team's season is finished however.

The Black Knights announced on Wednesday that they have excepted an invitation to play in this year's College Basketball Invitational (CBI), marking the first time they've played in any postseason tournament since 2021.

The College Basketball Invitational is a yearly postseason single elimination bracket which fields 16 teams who did not get selected to either the NCAA Tournament, or the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).

The event is held at the Ocean Center in Orlando Beach Florida from March 22 through the 26.

Army last made an appearance in the CBI in 2021, where they advanced all to the quarterfinals before being knocked out.

The only other team to except and invitation to the CBI as of this writing are the Illinois State Red Birds, with the rest of the selections expected to be announced over the next week or so.

While it may not seem like a huge deal on the surface, the CBI has historically been used as a spring board for teams to make the NCAA Tournament.

The Florida Atlantic Owls played in the CBI in 2022 before going on their magical Final Four run the following season. The 2018 Loyola Chicago Ramblers, arguably the greatest Cinderella run in NCAA history, won the CBI in 2015.

That's not to say that this selection guarantees we will see the Black Knights making a Final Four run any time soon, or even that we'll see them in the NCAA Tournament, which would be their first ever appearance.

It does, however, give the team a boost of momentum heading into next season. Playing postseason basketball is never a bad thing, regardless of what tournament a team is invited to. For Army, it may also represent an opportunity to sew future success.

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Jacob Moss
JACOB MOSS

Georgia native and avid Atlanta sports fan who has lived in the Charlotte area for the past eight years. Got started writing about sports for my middle school paper and haven’t stopped since. Graduate from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and proud 49er. Passionate sports writer who has covered everything from high school soccer to the NFL for several prominent outlets including the Charlotte Observer, ESPN, and the Carolina Panthers. Also covered the South Carolina Gamecocks football program as the lead beat writer for Last Word on College Football, and was a contributing writer for several other notable online publications such as Yardbarker. Lives and breathes sports and will watch whatever is on or in season. Favorite teams include the Braves, Hawks, Falcons, and Georgia Bulldogs. Massive Jordan Speith and Rory McIlroy fan on the PGA Tour

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