NIT Tournament 2012: Winner of Oregon vs. Washington Will Be Team to Beat

The Washington Huskies and Oregon Ducks both screwed up their chances of earning a berth in the NCAA tournament, as neither of them did enough work in the Pac-12 tournament to at least earn an at-large bid.

On Tuesday night, the Huskies and Ducks will look to take their frustration out on each other in the quarterfinals of the NIT tournament (you can watch it on ESPN3.com at 9:00 p.m. ET).

Washington, the No. 1 seed in Region 1, has been playing like a team on a mission so far in the NIT, as the Huskies have beaten both of their opponents by double digits. Oregon, a No. 3 seed, has looked pretty good in its own right, and the Ducks certainly know that they're capable of beating Washington.

They know they are because they destroyed Washington when the two teams met in Eugene in early February. Four Oregon players scored in double figures, and the Ducks shot better than 56 percent from the floor as a team. Washington shot just 36 percent as a team.

Stinkers like that one happened every now and then for this Washington team, which is a big reason why the Huskies were shut out of the Big Dance. But when the Huskies are clicking, as they are now, they're one of the most well-rounded teams in the country, capable of scoring and rebounding with the best of 'em.

Oregon is well aware of that, and it is also well aware that the Huskies are enjoying some outstanding play from guard Terrence Ross so far in the NIT. He scored 23 points against Texas-Arlington and followed that up with a 32-point effort against Northwestern.

Oregon has plenty of scorers to offset Ross, chief among them being Devoe Joseph. He can be inconsistent, but on any given night he can put the Ducks on his shoulders and drop 25 points with ease.

If Ross and Joseph are both clicking on Tuesday night, the Huskies and Ducks are going to have no trouble whatsoever lighting up the scoreboard. And given the fact that these two teams share a conference rivalry, you can rest assured that the game will be won by whichever team wants to win it the most.

The case can already be made that Washington and Oregon are the two best teams left standing in the NIT tournament, as no other team left standing can claim to have had a realistic shot at earning an at-large bid in a power conference.

The question of which of them is the better team will be answered tonight, and that's when the rest of the NIT field will know who the best team left in the field is.

If Oregon tops Washington again, the rest of the field will be looking at a Ducks team that put the Pac-12's regular season champ in its pocket on successive occasions. If Washington tops Oregon, the rest of the field will be looking at a Huskies team that is very clearly trying to salvage some dignity by winning the NIT after getting denied entry to the Big Dance.

Tuesday night's game is a test. After it's over with, whoever passes won't have to worry about taking such a hard test again for the remainder of the tournament.