NIT 2012 Schedule: Middle Tennessee vs Minnesota Winner Will Not Stop Washington

The 2012 NIT is well underway and there are just two games left tonight before the semifinals on March 27.

One of those contests is between the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders and the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

The winner of the contest is going to run into a hungry Washington Huskies squad that is getting revenge against anyone who stands in the way of a consolation NIT championship after being snubbed by the NCAA tournament selection committee.

The Huskies won the Pac-12 outright during the regular season but faltered in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament against Oregon State. Apparently, that loss was all the selection committee needed to see, passing over the Huskies when compiling the 68-team field.

This snub clearly infuriated Washington, but they have accepted their fate and since been thrashing teams in the NIT (via seattlepi.com).

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"Once the NIT selection was done coach was telling us that, `I know you don't want to be here but if you keep winning it's going to get more and more exciting,'" [freshman guard Tony] Wroten said.

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Sophomore guard Terrence Ross echoed that sentiment (via seattlepi.com).

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"We're still upset that we get a (NCAA) bid and could have, but we all forgot about it and focused on this championship that we're after," Ross said.

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In the opening round against UT-Arlington, the Huskies easily won by ten points, 82-72. Then they destroyed Northwestern, 76-55. The only close game came last night against Oregon, who they edged 90-86.

It’s definitely been exciting to watch Washington play, and it’s clear they are only thinking about winning the tournament to go out on a positive note.

Against a Huskies squad this talented and completely locked in, the Blue Raiders or Golden Gophers don’t stand much of a chance. 

‪Here's the complete NIT quarterfinals schedule:‬

‪No. 4 Middle Tenn. 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)‬