On To New York: Cougs Beat Northwestern

The Washington State Cougars have a date in New York this Tuesday after beating Northwestern 69-66 in Overtime. The Cougs will play Witchita State at Madison Square Garden. If the Cougs win, they will play the winner of the Colorado-Alabama game, also at the Garden.

Cougs Trophy Hopes Go Up In Smoke?

For the second time it happened. WSU Cougar fans, high from a big victory, only to read about a star player getting suspended for a drug charge. Two weeks ago, Klay Thompson was arrested hours after a WSU victory over the USC Trojans. Today we learn that right after WSU beats Oklahoma State in the second round of the NIT, that DeAngelo Casto will be suspended for the quarter final game against Northwestern. The Seattle Times quotes sources saying that Pullman police have found small amounts of marijuana in Casto's apartment.

A Little Background On The NIT

It's been jokingly called the "Not Important Tournament" or the "Not Invited Tournament", even the "Nobody's Interested Tournament", but the National Invitational Tournament or NIT is the oldest continuing NCAA basketball tournament. According to the wikipedia, the first NIT champion was the Temple Owls in 1937.

The NIT chooses the best teams that have not qualified for the NCAA tournament. There is a field of 32. The games are televised on ESPN.

The tournament was started by the Metropolitan Basketball Writer's Association of New York City. Originally, the entire tournament was played in Madison Square Garden, but since 1977, the preliminary rounds have been played on the campuses of the top seeded teams. The Semi-Finals and Finals are still played at the Garden.

Cougs Make Post Season--Will Play In The NIT

The Washington State Cougar Men's Basketball team may have been overlooked by the NCAA, but will see post season action as part of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). The Cougs (seeded second in the Boston College Region) will take on Long Beach State (seeded 7th), Wednesday at home.
According to KREM-TV's web site, the first three rounds of the NIT will be played at the school with the highest seed. The semi-finals and finals will be played at Madison Square Garden, March 29th and 31st. I plan to write about the history of the NIT in the next few days.