NIT Will Add Eight Teams on Trial Basis

For the last 30 years, the National Invitation Tournament has provided a second chance for college basketball teams that didn’t make the field for the NCAA tournament.

Now, in a one-year experiment, eight more schools will get the opportunity to extend their seasons.

The Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Assn., which runs the preseason and postseason NITs, said Wednesday the one-year expansion from 32 teams to 40 is in reaction to repeated requests from around college basketball.

“Conference commissioners, athletic directors and coaches [asked] us to expand our postseason NIT field to accommodate additional teams who have had successful seasons in their conference but have failed to receive an invitation to the NCAA tournament,” NIT Executive Director John J. Powers said.

The NIT will have eight opening-round games March 12 at campus sites, with the winners advancing to the first round, which ends March 15. The second round is March 18-19, the third round March 20-22, and the semifinals at New York’s Madison Square Garden on March 26. The championship game is March 28.