DAVIS, Calif. - A historic season for UC Davis men's basketball continued Sunday afternoon when the National Invitation Tournament announced the Aggies' opponent for their inaugural postseason appearance as a Division I program. In its first-ever NIT game, UC Davis will face the Stanford Cardinal in the first round.

ESPN2 will broadcast Tuesday's game from Maples Pavilion, located on the campus of Stanford University, starting at 8 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.gostanford.com, by calling 1-800-STANFORD or in person at the Stanford Athletics Ticket Office (9 a.m.-4 p.m. PT Monday-Friday). Courtside seating is priced at $30, lower level reserved seating is priced at $15 and upper level general admission is $10 ($8 for children and seniors).

Sunday's announcement officially marked the first postseason appearance for the Aggies since the 1999-2000 season and the 13th in the 104-year history of the men's basketball program. UC Davis qualified for the NCAA Division II Tournament in 1967, '68, '69, '75, '76, '78, '95, '96, '97, '98 - a year that saw the Aggies finish as national champions, '99 and 2000.

UC Davis earned its NIT berth by winning a Big West Conference championship - the first in school history. Including a perfect 14-0 home record, a new Div. I high, this year's team also set additional school marks with its 25 overall, 14 conference and 10 road wins.

Men's basketball's 25 victories is also the second-highest total in school history, trailing only the 1997-98 Div. II national championship team's 31.

In addition to its NCAA-high +16 win differential, UC Davis has led the nation, from the start of the calendar year, from three, has consistently posted top-five field goal percentages and was the only school in the nation to hold top-five shooting percentages in both categories until Gonzaga snuck into the top five this weekend with its overall shooting clip.

Stanford finished the 2014-15 season tied for fifth with a 19-13 overall and 9-9 mark against Pac-12 competition, and will compete in the postseason for the 26th time in school history.

Last week, the Cardinal fell in the quarterfinal round to Utah after topping Washington in the first round of the Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament.

UC Davis will compete as a No. 7 seed, Stanford enters tournament play as a No. 2 seed.

The NIT is the oldest tournament in college basketball and was started in 1938. It was the first national postseason collegiate tournament to be played in the country; the NCAA followed one year later with a tournament of its own.

Madison Square Garden was the location of all NIT games until the opening rounds were moved to campus sites starting in 1977. As has been the case since the event's inception, MSG will host both semifinals and championship game on March 29 and 31.

Any regular-season champion from a NCAA Division I conference not otherwise selected to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship automatically secures a berth in the National Invitation Tournament. The NIT Selection Committee will then select the best available teams to fill the 32-team field, seed and place tournament participants in one of four eight team quadrants.

Other teams competing in the Colorado State quadrant, besides UC Davis and Stanford, are Colorado State (No. 1 seed), Rhode Island (No. 3), Saint Mary's (No. 4), Vanderbilt (No. 5), Iona (No. 6) and South Dakota State (No. 8).

First-round games are scheduled for March 17 and 18, second round matchups will be played from March 20-23 and the eight quarterfinal contests will be played March 24 and 25.

The first three rounds of the NIT are hosted at the campus site of one of the participating teams. The higher seeded team is awarded the game as long as it's capable of doing so.

Fans are encouraged to use the hashtag #GoAgs when interacting on Twitter throughout UC Davis' postseason run.