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From NIT to NCAA

One final four can lead to another for three schools

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Final Four Squared Seven schools since 1960 have followed an NIT final four with an NCAA Final Four: School  NIT FF  NCAA FF  Louisville  1985  1986*  Georgia  1982  1983  Virginia  1980*  1981  Purdue  1979  1980  Charlotte  1976  1977  N. Carolina  1971*  1972  Loyola (Ill.)  1962  1963*  * Tournament champions

By Jacob Luft, CNNSI.com

It doesn't have nearly the glamour of the NCAA tournament's Final Four, but reaching the semifinals of the NIT is usually a good omen for things to come.

Three of the four teams in last year's NIT final four -- Wake Forest, Notre Dame and Penn State -- earned bids to the NCAA tournament this season.

Since 1985, 37 of the 64 teams that made the NIT semifinals made the Big Dance the following season. Nine of the past 12 NIT champions played in the NCAA tournament the following season.

If Wake Forest, Notre Dame or Penn State can reach the Final Four, they would become the first team since the 1985 and '86 Louisville Cardinals to play in the NIT and NCAA semifinals in consecutive years. The feat has been accomplished seven times since 1960.

Here are a couple of other NIT-related nuggets:

In 1962, Loyola of Chicago head coach George Ireland declined a bid to the NCAA tournament because his players preferred a trip to New York. Loyola finished third in the NIT and went on to enter and win the NCAA tournament the following season.

From NIT to NCAA
Year	NIT Champ	Following Season
2000	Wake Forest	NCAA, No. 7 seed, Midwest
1999	California	No NCAA
1998	Minnesota	NCAA, 1st round
1997	Michigan	NCAA, 2nd round
1996	Nebraska	No NCAA
1995	Virginia Tech	NCAA, 2nd round
1994	Villanova	NCAA, 1st round
1993	Minnesota	NCAA, 2nd round
1992	Virginia	NCAA, Sweet 16
1991	Stanford	No NCAA
1990	Vanderbilt	NCAA, 1st round
1989	St. John's	NCAA, 2nd round
1988	Connecticut	No NCAA
1987	Southern Miss	No NCAA
1986	Ohio State	NCAA, second round
1985	UCLA	No NCAA

 

Related information
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Statitudes: Conference comparison Statitudes: Honor among rivals Statitudes: NCAA Tournament Tidbits Statitudes: NCAA tournament -- By the Numbers Statitudes: Scare tactics Statitudes: Streaking into the Tournament NIT Roundup: Fogler era ends with S.C. loss
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