It all comes down to this: Stanford and Minnesota will square off at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night in the NIT Championship.
The road has been a little different for each squad, as Minnesota - who stumbled through Big Ten conference play - pulled off a string of upsets as a six seed in their quarter of the bracket. Stanford, who narrowly missed an invite to the NCAA Tournament, was a third seed.
Each team looks forward to the opportunity to carry a win and momentum into next year, and the Golden Gophers are striving for victories over Pac-12 opponents in consecutive games, having defeated Washington in the tournament's semifinals.
And while a win wouldn't quite measure up to the school's 1942 NCAA Championship, the Cardinal has a chance to win its second NIT crown, having also won the event in 1990.
Game Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
TV Coverage: ESPN, ESPN3
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