2024 NIT field and pairings announced

INDIANAPOLIS---Seton Hall, Indiana State, Villanova and Wake Forest highlight the 32-team National Invitation Tournament field released by the NIT committee today.

A new format for 2024 includes two exempt teams from each of six conferences: Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC.

First round play is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, March 19 and 20, with the second round playing March 23 and 24. Quarterfinals will be held March 26 and 27 with four teams advancing to historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for the semifinals on Tuesday, April 2. The NIT will conclude with the championship game on Thursday, April 4.

First round action on campus sites features number one seeds, Seton Hall, Wake Forest, Indiana State and Villanova facing Saint Joseph’s, App State, SMU, and VCU, respectively.

Other first round games include North Texas at LSU, Boston College at Providence, UNLV at Princeton, Xavier at Georgia, Richmond at Virginia Tech, Cornell at Ohio State, Minnesota at Butler, Loyola Chicago at Bradley, San Francisco at Cincinnati, South Florida at UCF, Kansas State at Iowa, UC Irvine at Utah.

For the third-straight season, the NIT seeded only the top half of the 32-team field. The bottom 16 unseeded teams were placed into the bracket by the NIT Committee as close to their area of natural interest as possible.

Bradley is making its 23rd appearance in the National Invitation Tournament, the most of any school in the 2023 field.

“We’re excited about the field that we were able to put together,” said Tim Duncan, vice president of athletics and recreation at New Orleans and chair of the NIT committee. “There are going to be some great early round matchups and it’s truly exciting to bring the history of the NIT – College Basketball’s Beginning – to historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.”

NIT games are being televised by ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN+. Additional NIT information can be found on www.NCAA.com/NIT.