CHAMPAIGN—A day after Illinois fired coach John Groce and three days after its NCAA tournament hopes vanished, the Illini accepted a bid to play in the National Invitation Tournament as a No. 2 seed.The Illini (18-14) will play No. 7 seed Valparaiso in the first round Tuesday at the State Farm Center. This marks the third time in the last four years Illinois has played in the NIT, going 1-2 in that span.Illinois had worked its way back into NCAA tournament consideration with a four-game winning streak late in the season, but a loss at Rutgers in the regular-season finale and a 20-point loss to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament dashed any hopes.Athletic director Josh Whitman said he decided Thursday to dismiss Groce, who had been in Champaign for five seasons, and Whitman announced the decision Saturday. Assistant coach Jamall Walker was promoted to interim head coach.Vaparaiso (24-8, 14-4) tied for first in the Horizon League in the regular season but lost potential NBA draft pick Alec Peters late in the season to a stress fracture in his right leg.The winner will advance to play No. 3 seed Utah or No. 6 Boise State.Illinois State was considered an NCAA tournament bubble team, but the Redbirds were left out despite a strong RPI and a win against Wichita State. They earned a No. 1 seed in the NIT and will face No. 8 UC Irvine on Wednesday at Redbird Arena in Normal.The other No. 1 seeds were California, Iowa and Syracuse.In an twist, Syracuse will face UNC Greensboro. During the ACC tournament in New York, Orange coach Jim Boeheim ripped that city as a former host site, saying, “There’s no value to playing in Greensboro. None.”