NIT Final Four Finally Arrives at Madison Square Garden

The 2011 NIT Final Four begins Tuesday night in New York City, and four schools are ready to prove they belong in the same sentence as the elite teams in college basketball. The brackets have been whittled from the 32 original teams down to the final four, and the semifinal games are ready to tip off at Madison Square Garden March 29.

The first NIT Final Four game is WSU vs. WSU. Yes, that's right: Both Washington State University and Wichita State University go by the monikers WSU, and now they get to face off for the right to play in the Championship Game. Wichita State comes into this game with a 27-8 record on the season and a 14-4 record from the MVC. The Washington State Cougars finished 9-9 in the Pac-10 Conference, and now have a 22-12 overall record.

The Cougars were on the cusp of an invitation to the NCAA Tournament, and had they not fallen to the last place team in the Pac-10 (Arizona State) near the end of the regular season, a much different scenario could have come about. Now the Cougars, led by Klay Thompson and DeAngelo Casto, are looking to gain back some of the respect the team has lost during the year. For both stars, this could be a great chance to show a national audience that they are worth getting selected in the 2011 NBA Draft.

The second game of the night pits the No. 1 seeds from Region 1 and Region 2 against each other in the semifinals. Alabama took care of Coastal Carolina, New Mexico, and Miami on their way to the Final Four, possibly spurred by their snub from the NCAA Tournament. Alabama won their division within the SEC, so it was very surprising that they were left out. Colorado is their opponent now, an equally snubbed school that wants to set the bar high before they join the Pac-10 Conference next year.

Colorado beat Texas Southern, California, and Kent State on their way to the Final Four, and now a great Colorado vs. Alabama game is on the schedule. Both schools are trying to make a statement in the NIT this year, and with one more win they will surely accomplish just that. They are the only top seeds to survive the brackets, and that makes the winner of this game the favorite to also take the NIT championship Thursday.

The Washington State vs. Wichita State game will be at 4 p.m. PST / 7 p.m. EST, and will be immediately followed by Alabama vs. Colorado. Both games will be telecast on ESPN on Tuesday, March 29, with the winners playing in the NIT Championship Game at 4 p.m. PST / 7 p.m. EST Thursday, March 31.

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