Tuesday, March 31, 7:00PM - Semifinal #1: (2) Miami (FL) vs. (1) Temple
Tuesday, March 31, 9:00PM - Semifinal #2: (2) Stanford vs. (1) Old Dominion
Thursday, April 2, 9:00PM - NIT Final: (2) Miami (FL) vs. (2) Stanford
Television Coverage:
All games will be broadcast on ESPN.
Road to the Semifinals:
- Miami (FL) beat North Carolina Central (75-71), Alabama (73-66), Richmond (63-61), Temple (60-57)
- Stanford beat UC Davis (77-64), Rhode Island (74-65), Vanderbilt (78-75), Old Dominion (67-60)
Of course nobody wants to fall short of the NCAA Tournament, but the teams who have made their way to Madison Square Garden for the NIT Finals have embraced this tournament and are playing to prove they deserved a bid to the Big Dance. The number one seeds for the NIT are the First Four Out, the first four team who missed out on NCAA Tournament bids. Two of the final four in the NIT were those number one seeds, Temple and Old Dominion. Temple played Miami (FL), and Old Dominion played Stanford.
The Hurricanes are coming in to the championship game having won 7 of 8. Their only loss in that stretch was a 7 point loss to Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament. The Canes are definitely capable of winning big games - they beat Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium this year. They're also capable of losing games they shouldn't lose - They lost to Green Bay, Eastern Kentucky, and Georgia Tech all at home. If they're playing well, watch out. They can beat anyone. If they aren't, they can lose on any given night. They haven't had an off night in quite some time, though, so Stanford ought to be prepared for a fight.
The Stanford Cardinal were a surefire NCAA Tournament team for a large part of the season. Then they went into a tailspin. They lost 8 out of 12 games to fall totally out of the bubble picture. They have rallied now, though, winning 4 solid games to make it to the championship game in Madison Square Garden. If they can make it five, they will end their season on Thursday night with a title.
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