A year removed from a disappointing Selection Sunday, the LSU basketball team received better news in 2014.
The Tigers (19-13, 10-10 Southeastern Conference) learned Sunday night they made the 32-team field of the National Invitational Tournament as a No. 5 seed and will hit the road to face No. 4 seed San Francisco  at 9 p.m. on Wednesday.
“As a staff and as a team, our guys are really looking forward to the challenges in front of us,” said LSU coach Johnny Jones. “Our guys are really looking forward to an opportunity to continue playing together, improving as a basketball team and making strides for our program.”
After only three SEC teams made the NCAA tournament field, speculations swirled whether the conference would place four teams in the NIT field, with LSU largely considered the fourth best of the SEC candidates.
Jones said he grew concerned when he saw the NCAA tournament committee send Tennessee to a First Four play-in game and left Georgia out of the field of 68.
“After watching the picks of the NCAA tournament … I was certainly disappointed in that,” Jones said. “I didn’t know how the NIT brackets would shake out after watching that.”
But Jones and his staff were elated when the Tigers were the third team revealed on the ESPNU selection show and were excited at the prospect of progress and growth for the basketball program.
The Dons (21-11, 13-5 West Coast Conference) finished second in the WCC and have won six of their last seven games — the lone loss an overtime setback to NCAA Tournament-bound BYU in the WCC tournament semifinals.
The Dons are led by senior forward Cole Dickerson, who leads the team with 14.8 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Avry Holmes chips in 12.6 points per game while 6-foot-9 center Mark Tollefsen puts in 10.7 points in the middle.
Should the Tigers defeat the Dons on Wednesday, it would draw the winner of No. 1 seed Southern Methodist University and No. 8 seed UC-Irvine.
It’s a quick turnaround for the Tigers, who leave for San Francisco on Tuesday and began scouting the Dons late Sunday night.
Although a cross-country trip awaits, Jones said the players were thrilled at the opportunity to continue their season.
“We’re going to have to do a lot of work and prep for each other, but we’re in the same situation they are,” Jones said. “That’s what the postseason is about.”