As we are just 5 minutes away from the start of the Final Four, it seems appropriate to offer congratulations to the smaller tournament champions.

Congratulations need to go out to the Minnesota Gophers, who in the first season under Richard Pitino, managed to claim the NIT tournament title over SMU – the team that looked like the largest snub from the NCAA tourney by being ranked in the top 25 in the last week before the polls and then missed the field.

Then, in the CIT tournament, Murray State from the Ohio Valley Conference pulled away from Yale for a 65-57 victory.

Then, in the crazy CBI tournament, Siena and Fresno State racked up on travel miles as they played their best 2 out of 3 series against each other.  Today, it was Siena who finally finished off Fresno State with a 81-68 victory to take the decisive third game.

So, congratulations to Minnesota, Murray State and Siena – who managed to finish their seasons on winning notes.  And now, let the Final Four begin!!!!!!!!