Know your NIT Final Four

It's the Year of the Big Ten in basketball, all right. Not only do four Big Ten teams still have a chance to make the NCAA's Final Four, Iowa will play future Big Ten-member Maryland in an NIT semifinal next Tuesday night at New York's Madison Square Garden.

The other semi will pit BYU and Baylor. Midtown Manhattan will go nuts for that, huh?

Here's a quick rundown on the three NIT teams other than Iowa:

MARYLAND

Record: 25-12

ACC record: 8-10

Road to New York: Beat Niagara, 86-70; beat Denver 62-52, won at Alabama, 58-57

Coach: Mark Turgeon

Best win: Beat Duke in the ACC tourney quarterfinals, 83-74

Most-lopsided loss: At Duke, 84-64

Leading scorer: Sophomore guard Dez Wells, 13.2 points per game

Top foreigner: 7-foot-1 Alex Len, who averages 7.8 rebounds and has 72 blocked shots

Impressive stat: Outrebounds opponents by 8.7 per game

BAYLOR

Record: 21-14

Big 12 record: 9-9

Road to New York: Beat Long Beach State, 112-66; beat Arizona State, 89-86; beat Providence, 79-68

Coach: Scott Drew

Best win: Beat Kansas at Waco on March 9, 81-58

Most-lopsided loss: At Kansas State, 81-61

Leading scorer: 5-foot-10 guard Pierre Jackson, 19.7 points per game

Top foreigner: Junior guard Brady Heslip of Burlington, Ontario, who averages 9 points per game

Impressive stat: Jackson and Heslip have both made over 80 three-pointers.

BYU

Record: 24-11

West Coast Conference record: 10-6

Road to New York: Beat Washington, 90-79; beat Mercer, 90-71; won at Southern Mississippi, 79-62

Coach: Dave Rose

Best win: The win at Southern Miss on Wednesday night

Most-lopsided loss: 83-62 at Iowa State

Leading scorer: Sophomore guard Tyler Haws, 21.2 points per game

Top foreigner: Junior forward Agustin Ambrosino of Cordoba, Argentina, who averages 1.8 points per game

Impressive stat: Averages 8.2 steals per game