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Marshall and UCF Will Play in National Invitation Tournament
Herd's First Invite Since 1988; First Ever for UCF

	DeAndre Kane

March 11, 2012

IRVING, Texas - In addition to Memphis and Southern Miss' NCAA berths, Marshall and UCF received a bid to the 2012 National Invitation Tournament. The Herd is making its fourth NIT appearance and first since 1988. UCF earned its first NIT bid in school history.

2012 NIT Bracket (PDF)

Complete NIT Release (PDF)

Marshall (21-13) is a No. 5 seed in the 32-team event and will play at No. 4 Middle Tennessee State (25-6) in the NIT first round on Tuesday, March 13, at 9:15 p.m. EDT/8:15 p.m. CDT in Murfreesboro. Marshall has played in the 1967, 1968, 1973 and 1988 NIT Championships, compiling a 2-5 record. In 1967, the Thundering Herd advanced to the semifinals.

Marshall is coming off a run to the Conference USA title game, finishing as runner-up to top seed Memphis. The Blue Raiders won the Sun Belt Conference regular-season title to earn their NIT bid. With a win, Marshall would advance to play the winner of No. 1 seed Tennessee or No. 8 Savannah State.

UCF (22-10) earned a No. 6 seed and will play at No. 3 Drexel (27-6) at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, March 14, in Philadelphia. Drexel claimed the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season title and is a perfect 13-0 at home this year. UCF has recorded back-to-back 20-win season and finished tied for third in Conference USA. The trip to the postseason is the latest first recorded by the Knights this season. During the regular season, UCF defeated a top-10 ranked team - No. 4 Connecticut - for the first time and recorded its first victories over C-USA foes Memphis and UAB. With a win at Drexel, UCF would face either No. 2 Saint Joseph's or No. 7 Northern Iowa in the second round. That game would be played between March 15 and 19.

Both first-round games will be available on ESPN3.