2012 NIT Official Bracket

With news that the Oregon Ducks have been named a No. 3 seed in the 2012 NIT, it is time to take a look at the official bracket, which can be viewed here.

Alright, the Ducks are in the NIT region with the No. 1 seeded Washington Huskies, who became the first Big 6 conference champion to not make it to the NCAA Tournament, due to a loss to the Oregon State Beavers in their first Pac-12 Tournament game.

Oregon will face a solid team, No. 6 seeded LSU, while the Huskies should be able to subdue Texas-Arlington easily in their first NIT game. Meanwhile, the Arizona Wildcats lost the conference championship in a close game against NCAA Tournament squad- and No. 11 seed- Colorado. ‘Zona usually plays well in tournaments and are a solid team overall, so Sean Miller should be able to lead them to the NIT equivalent of the Final Four, which will be played in New York . Standing in their pathway to an NIT Championship is a stingy Bucknell squad.

The other two NIT No. 1 seeds are Seton Hall and Tennessee, with the Pirates being the only legitimate threat to the Huskies, in particular. They had a losing record in Big East play, but they are a dangerous team and can shut down squads that don’t play disciplined basketball.

All three Pac-12 representatives in the NIT have a good chance at winning the whole thing, with Oregon and Washington looking like the favorites, along with Miami and Seton Hall. Stanford is also a No. 3 seed, but their offense is just too weak for them to do much damage. They are great defensively, but Josh Owens can’t do everything for them. Northwestern is in Oregon and Washington’s side of the NIT bracket, with their region being a stacked one overall.

Seriously, there is still some good basketball to be played in the NIT for the Oregon Ducks, and I hope a Pac-12 team wins it all. It would be a travesty for us to watch a Big East squad or a mid-major take this, even if Washington ends up as the champs.

Again, the official NIT bracket can be viewed here.

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