George Mason will play Virginia Tech in 2011 NIT season tipoff

The rumors seem to be confirmed now that George Mason will get a chance to face-off against in-state BCS opponent Virginia Tech next season. We knew that the Patriots would be tentatively scheduled to play in the preseason NIT tipoff in the same pod as Virginia Tech in Blacksburg but now the Post is confirming that two teams will in fact be playing eachother as most fans had hoped:

"After taking some criticism for not facing some of the state’s top mid-major programs over the past few years, the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team is scheduled to face George Mason as part of the NIT season tipoff, according to an athletic department source.

The game will be played in Blacksburg as part of a four-team pod to decide who advances to the tournament’s semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York."

Last season the Patriots' schedule of out of conferences opponents turned out to pretty decent despite not having any big name programs.  This match-up will hopefully ensure that Mason gets an early chance for a marque win. The Hokies will be losing a lot of their scoring production to graduation but I still feel this is a quality opponent to have on the schedule. Already having a trip to UVA on the schedule, the Patriots now will have two ACC teams on the out of conference slate, not too shabby.