It was all in place for Robert Morris to reach the NCAA tournament. All the Colonials had to do was win two more games, both at home, against opponents they expected to defeat.

But a not-so-funny thing happened along the way -- Robert Morris lost in the semifinals of the Northeast Conference tournament to Mount St. Mary's, 83-65.

Instead of going to the NCAA tournament, eighth-seeded Robert Morris (26-7) will play at No. 1 seed Syracuse (19-13) in the opening round of the NIT at 8 p.m. today at the Carrier Dome.

Robert Morris earned its first appearance in the NIT as the league's regular-season champion. This is the second year the NIT awarded an automatic bid to any conference champion that doesn't win its tournament and doesn't receive an NCAA bid. The Colonials, who set a school record for wins in a season, are one of eight regular-season champions in the NIT.

"We're not looking at the NIT as a consolation tournament," said Robert Morris senior guard Tony Lee, the NEC player of the year. "That really wasn't our goal, but we're going to go and attack the NIT like we would the NCAA tournament. We knew we were the best team in the conference, but we didn't play well, so our mission [to get to the NCAA tournament] failed."

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Scouting report

• Matchup: Robert Morris (26-7) vs. Syracuse (19-13), 8 p.m. today, Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
• TV, Radio, Internet: ESPNU, WPIT-AM (1360), www.sports.yahoo.com.
• Robert Morris: Coming off an 83-65 loss to Mount St. Mary's in semifinals of Northeast Conference tournament. ... Is making first appearance in the NIT. ... Is 14-2 on the road ... Led by Jeremy Chappell (14.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 78 steals), A.J. Jackson (14.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and Tony Lee (13.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 6.4 apg).
• Syracuse: Coming off an 82-63 loss to Villanova in first round of the Big East tournament. ... Is in the NIT for the 12th time. ... Is 14-5 at home. ... Led by 6-11 Donte Greene (17.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg), 6-5 Paul Harris (14.5 ppg) and 6-0 Johnny Flynn (15.9 ppg, 5.2 apg).
• Hidden stat: Syracuse's Flynn was Big East co-rookie of the year with Pitt's DeJuan Blair.

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Lee (13.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 6.4 apg) is the only player in school history to have 400 points, 200 rebounds and 200 assists in the same season. His 210 assists is a school record.

Coach Mike Rice gave his players three days off to try to erase the memory of the loss March 9 to Mount St. Mary's.

"They were down because they knew what was out there [the NCAA tournament] and that they didn't play well against Mount St. Mary's," he said. "This is another opportunity for us to show everybody how good this team is."

Lee agreed.

"It took all three days to forget the loss," he said. "Now we're OK."

It took the Colonials some grueling sprints in the first postseason practice to regain their energy and enthusiasm.

"They weren't very sharp at first," Rice said. "But these guys really like to practice. They actually have fun at practice."

Robert Morris is playing in its sixth postseason tournament and the first since 1992. The other five were in the NCAA tournament.

"I told them they've created a lot of firsts at this university and are fortunate to be playing in the NIT," Rice said. "It's rewarding to do new things, to accomplish new goals."

Rice said Robert Morris would not have been among the 32-team NIT field had it not been the regular-season champion of the NEC.

"No way," he said. "Not with our RPI [134], strength of schedule [323] and conference ranking [23rd out of 31]. But we're in, that's all that matters."

Syracuse, which lost to Villanova in the opening round of the Big East tournament, is in the NIT for the second consecutive season.

Rice appreciates the gap between the programs at Syracuse and Robert Morris.

"We have players who were Primanti's All-Americans," he said with a laugh. "They have McDonald's All-Americans."