In concept the Nationwide Invitational Match needs to be a spot the place mid-majors and lesser-known groups have an opportunity their probability to compete towards the most effective packages within the nation who barely missed out on the large dance of the NCAA Match.
Loads has modified in recent times. The NIT has been looking for methods to carve a distinct segment in postseason basketball. Final yr the workforce made massive performs to get energy convention groups on board to average success, however for 2024-25 there’s now the Faculty Basketball Crown match, which can award bids to colleges — which basically competes with the NIT for consideration.
In what may both be thought-about bitter grapes, or maybe planning for the brand new match, increasingly more main packages are avoiding the NIT to as an alternative skip postseason play all collectively. The concept is that those that simply missed the bubble don’t typically win the NIT, and dropping to a small faculty may harm recruiting.
To date we’ve got three groups have introduced they gained’t attend the match no matter whether or not they get an invitation or not: LSU, who completed second-last within the SEC this season might be joined by two ACC groups in Wake Forest and Pitt, all of whom have stated they gained’t attend this yr.
Right here is the sector for 2025 of groups who’ve accepted an invitation.
Dallas Area
1 SMU
Northern Iowa
4 Oklahoma State
Wichita State
3 Arkansas State
Saint Louis
2 North Texas
Furman
Dayton Area
1 Dayton
Florida Atlantic
4 Center Tennessee
Chattanooga
3 Bradley
North Alabama
2 George Mason
Samford
Irvine Area
1 UC Irvine
Northern Colorado
Jacksonville St.
3 Saint Joseph’s
UAB
2 Santa Clara
UC Riverside
San Francisco Area
1 San Francisco
Utah Valley
4 San Jose St.
Loyola Chicago
3 St. Bonaventure
Kent St.
2 Stanford
CSUN
