The 2018 National Invitation Tournament was a
single-elimination tournament
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
of 32 NCAA Division I college men's basketball teams that were not selected to participate in the
2018 NCAA tournament. The first three rounds of the annual tournament were played on campus sites (the host team being the higher seeded team). The semifinals and championship game were held at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Experimental rules
In February 2018, the NCAA approved a number of experimental rule changes for use in this tournament:
* Games were played in 10-minute quarters instead of 20-minute halves. The NCAA has used this timing convention for women's basketball since the 2015–16 season.
* As in NCAA women's basketball, as well as the 2017 NIT, there were no "one-and-one" foul shots. Starting with the fifth foul in each quarter, non-shooting fouls by the defense resulted in two free throws, with the exception of administrative technical fouls (for which only one shot is awarded). The 2018 NIT, however, returned to the standard NCAA procedure of treating overtime periods as extensions of the final period of regulation for purposes of team foul accumulation.
* The three-point line changed to the current
FIBA
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...
distance of from the center of the basket, except along the sidelines. Once the arc reaches a distance of from the sideline, it becomes a straight line parallel to the sideline.
* The free-throw lane was wide, the same width as in (
W)
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
and FIBA rules, instead of the in the current NCAA rules.
* The shot clock was reset to 20 seconds after an offensive rebound.
;Notes
Participants
Automatic qualifiers
The following teams were guaranteed berths into the 2018 NIT field by having the best regular season record in their conference but failing to either win their conference tournament or earn an at-large berth in the
2018 NCAA tournament.
Grambling State won the
SWAC regular season title but was banned from the postseason due to low graduation rates and did not participate in the conference tournament. There was thus no automatic qualifier from the SWAC.
At-large bids
The following 20 teams were also awarded NIT berths.
Bids by conference
Seeds
Schedule
The NIT Tournament began on Tuesday, March 13, 2018. Due to a conflict at
Taco Bell Arena
ExtraMile Arena (formerly BSU Pavilion and Taco Bell Arena) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the western United States, on the campus of Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. It is located on the east end of campus, between West Campus La ...
(with the NCAA tournament), Boise State travelled to the University of Washington for their first round match.
The first three rounds were played on campus sites. The Semifinals were held on Tuesday, March 27, and the Championship Game was held on Thursday, March 29, at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Bracket
''^''
Game played at Washington due to Taco Bell Arena
ExtraMile Arena (formerly BSU Pavilion and Taco Bell Arena) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the western United States, on the campus of Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. It is located on the east end of campus, between West Campus La ...
hosting First and Second Round 2018 NCAA tournament games.
* Denotes overtime period
Media
ESPN, Inc.
ESPN Inc. is an American multinational sports media conglomerate majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Hearst Communications as an equity stakeholder. For management and financial reporting purposes, the company is the main entity wit ...
had exclusive television rights to all of the NIT Games. It was
telecast every game across
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
,
ESPN2
ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%).
ESPN2 was initially fo ...
,
ESPNU
ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and the Hears ...
, and
ESPN3
ESPN3 (formerly ESPN360 and ESPN3.com) is an online streaming service owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications ...
.
Westwood One
Westwood One is an American radio network
There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and ...
had exclusive radio rights to the semifinals and the championship.
See also
*
2018 Women's National Invitation Tournament
The 2018 Women's National Invitation Tournament was an annual single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2018 Women's NCAA tournament. The tournament committee announced the 64-team fiel ...
References
{{2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament navbox
National Invitation
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...
2010s in Manhattan
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...
Basketball in New York City
College sports in New York City
Madison Square Garden
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...
National Invitation Tournament
Sports competitions in New York City
Sports in Manhattan