INDIANAPOLIS — SMU, Dayton, San Francisco and UC Irvine highlight the 32 teams from 15 different Division I conferences that make up the National Invitation Tournament field released by the NIT committee today.
First round play is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, March 18 and 19, with the second round playing March 22 and 23. Quarterfinals will be held March 25 and 26 with four teams advancing to historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for the semifinals on Tuesday, April 1. The oldest postseason tournament in college basketball will conclude with the 87th NIT championship game on Thursday, April 3.
First round action on campus sites features number one seeds, SMU, Dayton, San Francisco, and UC Irvine facing UNI, Florida Atlantic, Utah Valley and Northern Colorado, respectively.
Other first round games include Wichita State at Oklahoma State, Saint Louis at Arkansas State, Furman at North Texas, Jacksonville State at Georgia Tech, UAB at Saint Joseph’s, UC Riverside at Santa Clara, Chattanooga at Middle Tennessee, North Alabama at Bradley, Samford at George Mason, Loyola Chicago at San Jose State, Kent State at St. Bonaventure, and CSUN at Stanford.
For the fourth-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.
Dayton is making its 28th appearance in the NIT, the most of any team in the 2025 field and the second most all time. Bradley is making its 24th appearance and Saint Louis is making its 21st appearance.
“We’re excited about the extremely competitive field we put together,” said Tim Duncan, senior deputy athletics director at Memphis and chair of the NIT committee. “Not only do we have 26 teams with at least 20 wins this season, but we have teams from 15 different conferences. We have a field of teams excited to continue to compete and try to earn an opportunity to play at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. There are going to be great matchups throughout the tournament and we look forward to crowning the NIT’s 87th champion in just a few weeks.”
Seton Hall was the 2024 NIT Champion and the 2024 event featured sell-out crowds for both the semifinals and championship game at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
NIT games are being televised by ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN+. Additional NIT information including how to purchase tickets for the semifinals and championship can be found on www.ncaa.com/championships/basketball-men/nit.
