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The tickets to Madison Square Garden have been punched.
A day after the TCU Horned Frogs and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets secured their spots, the remaining two NIT quarterfinal matchups went down. The Illinois Fighting Illini, the lone remaining top-three seed in the tournament, were slated to go head-to-head against the fourth-seeded UFC Knights in the opener.
The CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners, the lone remaining No. 8 seed, looked to make their Cinderella run continue with a win over sixth-seeded UT Arlington Mavericks. Those two quarterfinalists were perhaps the unlikeliest remaining teams in the field.