BTN.com staff, March 11, 2012

Much was made about Northwestern's attempt to make the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history, but this year's Wildcats team fell just short. BTN's Tim Doyle caught up with Northwestern coach Bill Carmody to talk about the Wildcats being left out of the field of 68 teams. "I don't think necessarily that if we had beat Minnesota in the (Big Ten) tournament we would have got in," Carmody said. "I don't think that really knocked us out either." The Wildcats will play in the postseason, however, as it received an NIT berth and plays Akron in the first round Tuesday. A couple other Big Ten teams made the NIT, as well. See who in this post.

Iowa and Minnesota join the Wildcats in the NIT. The Hawkeyes, in the postseason for the first time since a 2006 NCAA tourney appearance, host Dayton on Tuesday, while the Gophers battle LaSalle on Wednesday. View the NCAA's NIT homepage.

IOWA
Iowa has been selected to compete in the 2012 National Invitational Tournament. Iowa (17-16) is a seven seed and will host second-seeded Dayton (20-12) of the Atlantic 10 Conference on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN. "We are absolutely thrilled," said Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery. "I'm so proud of our guys and how they persevered and grew throughout the season. Read the HawkeyeSports.com release.

https://twitter.com/#!/mgatens5/status/179011762442616832

MINNESOTA
Minnesota will play La Salle in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament on Wednesday at Tom Gola Arena in Philadelphia. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN2. The game can also be heard statewide on the Gopher Radio Network, including 1500 ESPN in the Twin Cities. Sixth-seeded Minnesota will head into the contest with a 19-14 record following a 1-1 showing in the Big Ten Tournament. The third seed La Salle Explorers are 21-12 out of the Atlantic 10 Conference. Read the GopherSports.com release.

https://twitter.com/#!/GophersNow/status/179049840569892865

NORTHWESTERN
Northwestern hosts an NIT game for the second straight year as the fourth-seeded Wildcats take on fifth-seeded Akron at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tip time is set for 8 p.m. The contest is being televised by ESPN2. It is the seventh NIT appearance for Northwestern. This will be the first meeting between the Wildcats and the Zips. The winner of Tuesday's contest advances to take on the winner of the game between top-seeded Washington and eighth-seeded Texas-Arlington. Read the NUSports.com release.

https://twitter.com/#!/TeddyGreenstein/status/179010317299359744