NIT Pairing Has Greensboro Fired Up For Syracuse Game

The UNC-Greensboro men's basketball team kicks off its post-season Tuesday with the opening round of the National Invitational Tournament. A fluke in scheduling makes it a contest not just for a win but also for some civic pride.

It all started during last week's ACC tournament after Syracuse University's loss to Miami. The team's Yankee-proud coach, Jim Boeheim, said the tournament belongs in a big city like the Big Apple, and that there was “no value” in sending it back to its ancestral home in Greensboro.

That didn't sit well with folks around here, and the social media response was swift and snarky. Even the city's official Twitter account got involved, helpfully pointing out that Syracuse could lose in the first round anywhere: New York, Greensboro, wherever.

And when the NIT pairings were announced, @greensborocity chimed in again with a tweet saying “Kudos #NIT on having a sense of humor. Well played!”

NIT officials say pitting Syracuse against UNCG had nothing to do with the spat. They say they were just matching teams, not storylines. Both the Spartans and the Orange were hoping to join the NCAA brackets, but losses in their conference tournaments pretty much killed those plans. Tuesday's game will be played at Syracuse and broadcast on ESPN.