‪NIT 2012 Bracket: Stanford Will Become Second Pac-12 Team in Final Four‬

Washington punched its ticket to the NIT Final Four on Tuesday with a 90-86 win over Oregon, and now it's Stanford's turn to gain admittance to the festivities when it faces Nevada on Wednesday night. ‬

‪After rallying for an overtime victory against Illinois State in the second round of the tournament, Stanford proved it can hang in there and outlast the competition. Though the Cardinal trailed by nine points with eight minutes left, they embarked on a 14-3 run—led by sophomore Aaron Bright—to force overtime. ‬

‪Bright made six of seven 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 29 points in a 92-88 win.

‪Now with a berth to Madison Square Garden on the line, the Cardinal (23-11, 10-8 Pac-12) will face Nevada in the NIT quarterfinals. With a win, they will prove that they, along with Washington, should've gained admittance to the Big Dance. ‬

‪The fifth-seeded Wolf Pack will be a challenge for Stanford after finishing 13-1 in Western Athletic Conference play and 28-6 overall. Nevada, after finishing first in the WAC, played itself out of the NCAA tournament when it failed to advance past Louisiana Tech in the conference tournament.

Prior to the loss to the Bulldogs, the Wolf Pack most recently fell to Iona, 90-84—yes, that Iona, which allowed BYU to forge the biggest comeback in NCAA tournament history in last week's play-in round. ‬

‪Stanford certainly has a lot to prove.

In a very weak year for the Pac-12, it could only muster a seventh-place finish and fell to NCAA tournament-bound California in the second round of the conference championship. It struggled mightily this year when conference play began, suffering three consecutive losses to Washington State, Washington and Cal in January. ‬

‪But down the stretch, the Cardinal pulled off conference wins against Cal (75-70 on March 4) and Arizona State (85-65 in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament). Nevada—after an upset of Oral Roberts in the first round of the NIT and a close-ish win over eighth-seeded Bucknell in the second—will have to overcome the momentum Stanford is riding after its overtime victory against Illinois State. ‬

‪And when the time comes on Wednesday night at 9 p.m., they won't be able to do it. ‬

‪Here's the complete NIT quarterfinals schedule:‬

‪No. 4 Middle Tennessee vs. No. 6 Minnesota—March 21, 7 p.m.‬
‪No. 5 Nevada vs. No. 3 Stanford—March 21, 9 p.m.‬
‪No. 1 Washington 90, No. 3 Oregon 86 (F)‬
‪No. 5 Massachusetts 72, No. 3 Drexel 70 (F)‬