New York City Sports Commissioner Kenneth J. Podziba will welcome the semifinal and final rounds of the 2008 Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off to Madison Square Garden. The tournament will feature doubleheader action on Wednesday, November 26 and Friday, November 28. The championship rounds of this year's tournament will showcase some of the best college basketball programs in the country including the Purdue Boilermakers, Oklahoma Sooners, Boston College Eagles and UAB Blazers.

The tournament's first two rounds were played at four regional sites: Chestnut Hill, MA; West Lafayette, IN; Norman, OK and Tucson, AZ. The original field of 16 teams has been whittled down to four, as #9 Purdue will face Boston College in the first semifinal match on Wednesday, November 26 at 7:00pm followed by #13 Oklahoma taking on UAB at 9:00pm. The consolation and championship matches will be played on Friday, November 28 at 1:30pm and 3:30pm, respectively.

"Year after year, the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off gathers many of the top college basketball programs in New York City for a Thanksgiving holiday treat," said Commissioner Podziba. "College hoops enthusiasts will get a chance to see potential future NBA lottery picks, such as Oklahoma's Blake Griffin, battle on the historic hardwood of the 'Mecca of College Basketball.' This tournament has proven to be an accurate indicator of the level of talent, skill and competition fans can expect to see from the teams that will be competing deep into postseason play later on this year."

"The NIT Season Tip-Off has established itself as one of the nation's most prestigious early season tournaments since 1985, when three of our finalists participated in the Final Four the following March," said Greg Shaheen, President of the NIT. "This year we look forward to the same competitive, high quality basketball that has become synonymous with this great tournament."

Purdue, led by sophomores E'Twaun Moore and Robbie Hummel, easily advanced to the semifinals with wins against Eastern Michigan and Loyola-Chicago. The Boilermakers stifling defense forced 44 turnovers in the regional round games and held Loyola-Chicago's J.R. Blount, who scored 42 points in Loyola's opener, to only three points on 0-6 shooting.

Oklahoma successfully advanced to the semifinal round on the shoulders of sophomore forward Blake Griffin. In a dominating performance over Mississippi Valley State in the first game of the regional round, Griffin scored 20 points and grabbed 19 rebounds en route to a 94-53 victory. In Oklahoma’s second round game against Davidson, Griffin scored 25 points and grabbed 21 rebounds to lead the Sooners to a thrilling 82-78 victory. Davidson’s Stephen Curry scored an astounding 44 points in the loss.

Boston College easily defeated Loyola-Maryland and St. John's in the opening rounds of the tournament. In those two games, BC out rebounded Loyola-Maryland and St. John's 46-30 and 42-28, respectively. Senior Tyrese Rice led the Eagles with a combined 44 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists in the two opening games. BC also boasts four players averaging double figures in points scored this season.

UAB surprisingly advanced to the semifinals by posting a come from behind victory over Santa Clara in the first round and stunning heavy favorite Arizona in the second round. Senior guard Paul Delany hit a free throw with 0.8 seconds remaining to give UAB the improbable victory over Arizona. UAB relies on a trio of seniors - Lawrence Kinnard, Robert Vaden and Paul Delaney - to carry the scoring and rebounding load. Vaden averaged 21.5 points per game in the opening rounds.

The postseason NIT was founded in 1938 by a group of New York City sportswriters while the NIT Season Tip-Off, formerly known as the Preseason NIT, started in 1985. An independent, at-large committee chooses the field for both events. Since the inception of the tournaments, thousands of student-athletes and coaches have participated. Over the years, many future NBA stars have competed including Allen Iverson (Georgetown); Jason Kidd (California); Shaquille O'Neal (LSU); Paul Pierce (Kansas); Carlos Boozer (Duke); and Gilbert Arenas (Arizona).

For more information about this event, please visit www.nit.org.

Tickets can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden box office or through Ticketmaster, either by calling (212) 307-7171 or by visiting www.ticketmaster.com.

The New York City Sports Commission is the mayoral agency charged with attracting, facilitating and promoting professional, amateur and scholastic sports events in New York City. The Sports Commission has played an integral role in creating or developing many new sporting events, including the NFL Kickoff Live from Times Square, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series™ Champions Week, the BMC Software NYC Cycling Championship, the AVP Brooklyn Open, the NAUTICA NYC Triathlon, the NYC Half-Marathon, the Union Square Street Sessions presented by Jeep®, the Wild Onion Urban Adventure Race, and the Men's Health Urbanathlon.