The other college basketball tournament in March is wrapping up as well, as the NIT semifinals begin on Tuesday in Madison Square Garden.
NIT Tournament 2012 Schedule And Bracket: Washington Plays Minnesota, UMass Faces Stanford In Semifinals
Stanford faces Massachusetts in the first semifinal, a 7 p.m. game on ESPN.
Stanford is one of two Pac-12 teams still alive in the NIT, as the Cardinal have caught fire at the end of the season, defeating Cleveland State, Illinois State and Nevada in the first round.
UMass was the fifth-place team in the Atlantic 10 tournament, a mid-major conference whose top four teams played well in the NCAA Tournament. The Minutemen defeated Mississippi State in 2OT in round one, and then moved past Drexel and Seton Hall in close games to reach New York City.
The other semifinal pits Washington, the regular season Pac-12 champion, against Minnesota, the 9th-place team in the Big Ten in a 9 p.m. game on ESPN.
The Huskies are by far the most talented team in the field, as they have at least three future NBA players, the 6'5 Tony Wroten, 6'6 Terrence Ross and 6'6 CJ Wilcox, on the perimeter. The Gophers, meanwhile, are led by future first-round pick Rodney Williams, a ridiculous 6'7 athlete who can play both forward positions.
For more on the NIT, be sure to check out our NCAA basketball hub. A full bracket can be found here, and be sure to check out our 2012 NCAA Tournament hub for more on the Big Dance.
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