NIT 2012 Bracket: 3 Underrated Teams With Best Shot to Win Title

A quick glance of the NIT bracket shows three favorites jumping off the page.

With all the ingredients of NCAA tournament teams, these three snubs are going to have the best shot of cutting down the nets at Madison Square Garden.

No. 2 Miami (19-12)

The Hurricanes were only one win away from clinching a bid and hold wins over both Duke and Florida State.

Miami has a balanced offense that features four double-digit scorers. That means a guy like Durand Scott or Kenny Kadji can have an off-night and Miami can still win.

I was shocked to see Miami’s bubble burst, so expect them to be one of the more motivated teams in the entire tournament.

No. 4 Northwestern (18-13)

The joke goes that the Wildcats should be the favorites since they are so experienced in the NIT, but this team does have a lot going for them.

Despite being a poor rebounding team, they feature two of the more explosive players in the tournament in John Shurna and Drew Crawford. The killer combo averages 36 points combined and are going to give defenses big problems that don’t have forwards with height to defend them in the paint and the quickness to stay in front on the perimeter.

As a team Northwestern only turns the ball over 10 times a game, and as long as it doesn't get destroyed on the boards, it will be making a deep run.

No. 4 Mississippi State (21-11)

The Bulldogs had a complete meltdown in the second half of the season but did finish the year winning two of three contests.

They have a player in Arnett Moultrie who is one of the top 20 players in the nation. He averages 15.8 points, 10.6 rebounds while shooting a spectacular 55 percent from the floor. There is no player in the NIT that can hang with him.

As long as the Bulldogs stay motivated (a big "if" after watching their season), they are an incredibly dangerous team. 

Printable bracket can be found here, courtesy of the official NIT website.

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