As if you needed another reason to watch the prestigious and illustrious NIT, I've got something else that will sweeten the 2012 NIT Championship Game for you.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are one hell of a story this season.
They lost their best player for the season, forward Trevor Mbakwe, seven games in this year, and they've been without their starting center, Ralph Sampson III, since the last regular-season game against Nebraska.
After losing seven of eight games in February (they faced Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan State, and Wisconsin twice in that stretch), they've since won six of seven, including NIT upsets of higher-seeded La Salle, Miami, Middle Tennessee and Washington.
Eleven players average 11 minutes or more for the Golden Gophers. Outside of Mbakwe, Minnesota doesn't have anybody that jumps out at you, but they play a gritty-brand of team basketball, averaging 15.3 assists per game.
And somehow, they managed to slow down Washington's prolific offense, holding the Huskies to 67 points through an overtime session. To put that in perspective, Washington put 90 up on Oregon only a game before, so it was no small feat to slow them and their NBA-ready talent, Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten Jr., down.
So yeah, they play that good ol' fashioned Big Ten defense, too.
Minnesota isn't sexy. They don't have their best player available. They have to use their entire bench and rely on team play rather than individual efforts.
And they keep winning. Don't be surprised if they continue that trend against Stanford.
Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets have won a lot since 2009.
Nick Spaling Pikka Rinne Mathieu Carle Lars Eller Hal Gill John Madden
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