National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is a college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The association plays two tournaments each year: one played each spring, with its final rounds in New York City at Madison Square Garden and one each November (the preseason NIT, founded in 1985). The tournament was operated by the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association (MIBA) up until 2005.
History
The post-season tournament pre-dates the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship tournament by one year; in the tournaments' early years there was often some contention as to which champion was in fact the nation's best collegiate basketball team. Since the rise to prominence of the NCAA tournament, the post-season NIT has generally consisted of teams who failed to qualify for the NCAA event. As such, it has been nicknamed by some as the "Not Invited Tournament," indicating its lower status.
Since the 1970s there have been separate men's and women's tournaments. The women's tournament originally consisted of eight teams and was held in Amarillo, Texas.
Originated by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association in 1938, responsibility for administering the NIT was transferred two years later to local colleges, first known as the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Committee and in 1948, as the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association (MIBA), which was comprised of representatives from the five New York City schools, Fordham University, Manhattan College, New York University, St. John's University and Wagner College.
Originally all of the men's teams qualifying for the tournament were invited to New York City and all games were played at Madison Square Garden. In recent years, as interest in collegiate sports in general has declined in the Metropolitan New York area as interest in professional sports has increased, and interest in the NIT has declined as it has been dismissed as "playing for 66th place", earlier rounds are now played on campus sites and only the semi-final and final rounds are held at the Garden.
In 2005, the NCAA purchased the NIT tournament to settle anti-trust concerns brought by the MIBA. As part of the purchase of the NIT by the NCAA, the MIBA disbanded.
Men's post-season NIT champions
- 1938 Temple
- 1939 LIU
- 1940 Colorado
- 1941 LIU
- 1942 West Virginia
- 1943 St. John's (N.Y.)
- 1944 St. John's (N.Y.)
- 1945 DePaul
- 1946 Kentucky
- 1947 Utah
- 1948 Saint Louis
- 1949 San Francisco
- 1950 CCNY
- 1951 BYU
- 1952 La Salle
- 1953 Seton Hall
- 1954 Holy Cross
- 1955 Duquesne
- 1956 Louisville
- 1957 Bradley
- 1958 Xavier
- 1959 St. John's (N.Y.)
- 1960 Bradley
- 1961 Providence
- 1962 Dayton
- 1963 Providence
- 1964 Bradley
- 1965 St. John's (N.Y.)
- 1966 BYU
- 1967 SIU
- 1968 Dayton
- 1969 Temple
- 1970 Marquette
- 1971 North Carolina
- 1972 Maryland
- 1973 Virginia Tech
- 1974 Purdue
- 1975 Princeton
- 1976 Kentucky
- 1977 St. Bonaventure
- 1978 Texas
- 1979 Indiana
- 1980 Virginia
- 1981 Tulsa
- 1982 Bradley
- 1983 Fresno State
- 1984 Michigan
- 1985 UCLA
- 1986 Ohio State
- 1987 Southern Miss
- 1988 UConn
- 1989 St. John's (N.Y.)
- 1990 Vanderbilt
- 1991 Stanford
- 1992 Virginia
- 1993 Minnesota
- 1994 Villanova
- 1995 Virginia Tech
- 1996 Nebraska
- 1997 Michigan
- 1998 Minnesota
- 1999 California
- 2000 Wake Forest
- 2001 Tulsa
- 2002 Memphis
- 2003 St. John's (N.Y.)
- 2004 Michigan
- 2005 South Carolina