Women's National Invitation Tournament

For the TV station in South Bend, Indiana; see WNIT (TV).

Logo of the Women's National Invitational Tournament

The Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), formerly the National Women's Invitation Tournament, is a college basketball tournament with a preseason and postseason version played every year. It is operated in a similar fashion to the men's NIT.

The WNIT, founded in 1969, is the oldest currently existing national women's college basketball tournament. It was established in the same year as the invitational tournament of the Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, an event which was taken over in 1972 by the newly formed (and now defunct) AIAW, the first national governing body for women's college athletics. The WNIT long predates the NCAA tournament, which was not founded until 1982.

Unlike the men's NIT, the WNIT is not operated by the NCAA, nor was it operated by the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association, the body which ran the men's NIT for virtually all of its history until the NCAA purchased that tournament in 2005. Currently, the WNIT is owned and promoted by Triple Crown Sports, a company based in Fort Collins, Colorado that specializes in grassroots event promotion and amateur sporting events.

From 1998 to 2005, the field was 32 teams. In 2006, the tournament expanded 40 teams, in 2007 to 48 teams, and in 2010 to the current 64 teams. Each of the thirty-one college conferences will receive an automatic bid, with thirty-three at-large teams selected.

The winners of the past WNIT are listed below. The tournament was played in Amarillo, Texas, until 1998, when schools began to host.

Postseason champions

Year	Champion		Runner-up		Venue and city
1969	Wayland Baptist	54	Ouachita Baptist	34	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1970	Wayland Baptist	50	Midwestern State	46	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1971	Wayland Baptist	63	Parsons	44	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1972	Wayland Baptist	48	John F. Kennedy	41	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1973	Wayland Baptist	52	John F. Kennedy	49	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1974	Wayland Baptist	59	John F. Kennedy	52	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1975	Wayland Baptist	79	UCLA	41	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1976	Wayland Baptist	90	UCLA	77	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1977	Wayland Baptist	79	UCLA	75	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1978	Old Dominion	70	Texas	60	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1979	South Carolina	74	Drake	71	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1980	Oregon State	71	North Carolina	62	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1981	Georgia	75*	Arizona State	73	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1982	Oregon State	76	Florida State	60	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1983	New Orleans	68	Memphis State	58	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1984	Vanderbilt	67	Chattanooga	66	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1985	LSU	74	Florida	54	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1986	Idaho	100	Northwestern State	91	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1987	Arkansas	112	California	80	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1988	DePaul	83	Purdue	55	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1989	Oregon	67	San Diego State	64	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1990	Kentucky	85	Toledo	76	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1991	Santa Clara	71	Indiana	68	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1992	Georgia Tech	90	Hawaiʻi	72	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1993	Arkansas State	67	SMU	54	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1994	Oklahoma	69	Arkansas State	65	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1995	Texas A&M	85	Northwestern State	81	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1996	Arizona	79	Northwestern	63	Amarillo Civic Center	Amarillo, Texas
1997	No tournament held
1998	Penn State	59	Baylor	56	Ferrell Center	Waco, Texas
1999	Arkansas	67	Wisconsin	64	Bud Walton Arena	Fayetteville, Arkansas
2000	Wisconsin	75	Florida	74	Kohl Center	Madison, Wisconsin
2001	Ohio State	62	New Mexico	61	The Pit	Albuquerque, New Mexico
2002	Oregon	54	Houston	52	McArthur Court	Eugene, Oregon
2003	Auburn	64	Baylor	63	Ferrell Center	Waco, Texas
2004	Creighton	73	UNLV	52	Omaha Civic Auditorium	Omaha, Nebraska
2005	SW Missouri State	78	West Virginia	70	Hammons Student Center	Springfield, Missouri
2006	Kansas State	77	Marquette	65	Bramlage Coliseum	Manhattan, Kansas
2007	Wyoming	72	Wisconsin	56	Arena-Auditorium	Laramie, Wyoming
2008	Marquette	81	Michigan State	66	Breslin Student Events Center	East Lansing, Michigan
2009	South Florida	75	Kansas	71	Allen Fieldhouse	Lawrence, Kansas
2010	California	73	Miami (FL)	61	Haas Pavilion	Berkeley, California
2011	Toledo	76	USC	68	Savage Arena	Toledo, Ohio
2012

*Overtime

See Also

• NCAA Women's Division I Tournament
• WBI

External links

• Official Site of the Women's National Invitation Tournament
• WNIT Champions