The 2012 National Invitiational Tournament, better known as the NIT, will tip-off on Tuesday night on with games all over the ESPN family of networks. The game most important to our region between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and La Salle Explorers won't happen until Wednesday, but there's plenty of stuff to look for as far as potential opponent's further ahead in the bracket are concerned when Tuesday's schedule begins.
The Dayton Flyers will take on the Big Ten's Iowa Hawkeyes on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. followed by the Oregon Ducks playing the LSU Tigers on the late game in the matchups that are likely to be the most buzzworthy considering they're being televised on ESPN.
One other team to keep an eye on, aside from the top-seeded Washington Huskies, is the Northwestern Wildcats. The Wildcats were essentially eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by the Gophers, but they're still representing the Big Ten with a No. 4 seed in the NIT.
Tuesday's full schedule is included below. All times are Eastern.
Region 1
No. 1 Washington Huskies vs. No. 8 Texas-Arlington Mavericks, 10 p.m, ESPNU
No. 4 Northwestern Wildcats vs. No. 5 Akron Zips, 9 p.m, ESPN2
No. 3 Oregon Ducks vs. No. 6 LSU Tigers, 9:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 2 Dayton Flyers vs. No. 7 Iowa Hawkeyes, 7:30 p.m, ESPN
Region 2
No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers vs. No. 8 Savannah St. Tigers, 8 p.m, ESPNU
No. 4 Middle Tenn. St. Blue Raiders vs. No. 5 Marshall Thundering Herd, 9:15 p.m., ESPN3
Region 3
No. 1 Seton Hall Pirates vs. No. 8 Stony Brook Seawolves, 7:15 p.m., ESPN3
No. 4 Mississippi St. Bulldogs vs. UMass Minutemen, 7 p.m, ESPN2
Region 4
No. 3 Stanford Cardinal vs. No. 6 Cleveland St. Vikings, 11 p.m., ESPN2
For more on the Minnesota Golden Gophers, check out The Daily Gopher. You can also learn more about college basketball around the nation at SB Nation's College Basketball hub.