Last weekend, The Blog brought you a blog-a-thon from the MAAC tournament in Albany. 

This won't be quite as extensive, but we'll keep you updated on all tonight's first-round CBI game between Rider and Old Dominion. 

This post comes to you from the Ted Constant Convention Center, which everyone in the Rider traveling party agreed is on a very short list of the nicest basketball arenas in the country. 

Built in 2002, it seats 8,424 -- perfect for the Colonial Athletic Association -- and is lined with luxury boxes above the stands. 

This should be a good one between two pretty evenly-matched teams. 

Rider (109) is 20 spots ahead of ODU in the RPI (129), but the Monarchs would have won 20 games with their eyes closed if they didn't play a brutal non-conference schedule that included back-to-back-to-back games against No. 1 North Carolina, then-No. 5 Georgetown and then-No. 6 Louisville. 

And the CAA, with VCU and George Mason atop the regular season standings, is no cupcake conference either. 

The winner of tonight's game gets the winner of tonight's Richmond-Virginia game in the CBI quarterfinals next Monday. 

There are five trumpets and two trombones on seats behind one of the baskets, so I'm assuming the Monarchs' band is in the house somewhere. I hope they're good, but boy, do I miss the Marist band.