This may not be the best of the five non-NCAA Tournament teams Utah has had under seventh-year coach Larry Krystkowiak, but the current Runnin’ Utes certainly have advanced the farthest - all the way to the Big Apple in fact. And there, at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, Utah will face Western Kentucky in the first NIT semifinal.

Both Penn State and Mississippi State were hopeful of an NCAA Tournament berth, but they feel their long NIT runs can serve as building blocks for the future. The Bulldogs and Nittany Lions - a pair of fourth-seeded teams to begin the event - meet Tuesday in Madison Square Garden in the NIT semifinals.