The College Basketball Invitational was created because, apparently, there was such an interest in non-NCAA tournament events that the N.I.T. couldn't contain it (obviously, I'm being sarcastic).

So, while the NCAA and NIT fields have been set, the CBI got to look through the rest of the clearance rack and pick off sixteen teams for their own little dance.

Tuesday: Richmond at Virginia, Houston at Nevada, Brown at Ohio, Rider at Old Dominion
Wednesday: Cincinnati at Bradley, Valparaiso at Washington, Miami-OH at Tulsa, Utah at UTEP

The winners of these games will face off next Monday. The semifinals will take place on Wednesday, March 26th. Then there will be a best-of-three championship series taking place the following week. Most of the games will be on Fox College Sports ... a network most people don't get. And even if they did, they're probably not watching this.

Look, I'm all for letting these kids extend their collegiate careers. Really, I am. But this is dumb. Credibility is shot when you invite a 13-18 Cincinnati team.

Considerable drama surrounded this match-up of the Pac-10's two worst teams, ignited when a half-dozen Oregon State players walked onto the Gill Colliseum floor Friday while a handful of Huskies were shooting and their anger was directed at freshman guard Venoy Overton.

"I remember them saying, 'Wait until you come down here,' " said Overton, who had exchanged shoves with the Beavers' Josh Tarver in Seattle. "I knew something was coming."

Said Appleby, "I thought they were joking around."

Romar defused that situation, sending his players to their waiting charter bus while attempting to calm the Beavers.

Not long after that, UW players were attending a mandatory study table at the nearby Hilton Hotel, a long block from the arena, when Huskies guard Joel Smith discovered a voice mail message from Oregon State's Marcel Jones, inviting everyone outside.

"We were laughing about that," Appleby said. "It was, 'Are you going to come in and fight us in the hotel?' "

Not surprisingly, Washington responded with a 97-59 blowout. Detailed analysis of the tussle after the jump.

Morris immediately tried to apologize to Aboya, who noted the apology after the game. But some UCLA players began riding Morris about it, prompting Bruins coach Ben Howland to intercede.

"I threw it off his face and one of their guys said something like, 'Don't do that again,' and I said something back to them. And Howland said, 'Back up,' just trying to cool down the situation a little bit," Morris said.

Said Aboya: "They were doing everything they could to win. It's allowed."

Howland asked an official to penalize Morris but he said he was told that "there was nothing he could do."

If the referee says it's OK, and if Aboya says it's allowed, maybe I shouldn't have a problem with it. But it seems like a bush-league move to me.