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Not every team gets invited to the “Big Dance.” For the teams that almost made it to the Final 68 on Selection Sunday, there is the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
TV Tuesday Audio Segment with Douglas Pucci
joining Scott Nolte on
Y100.1 FM (Northwest Iowa)
TV Tuesday Audio Segment with Douglas Pucci
joining Scott Nolte on
Y100.1 FM (Northwest Iowa)
A total of 32 teams comprise the NIT. The first four teams left out of the 2018 NCAA tournament field will be the top-seeded teams in the 2018 NIT. They were Notre Dame, USC, Saint Mary’s and Baylor.
The 2018 field consists of seven former NIT champs and 21 conferences are represented (out of 32 available).
This year’s NIT will feature experimental rules including an extended 3-point line and widened lane area. The most notable experimental change will be that games will be played in four 10-minute quarters rather than two 20-minute halves.
31 games will be played in this 81st annual edition of the tournament from March 13-29. The NIT Semifinals (Mar. 27) and Final (Mar. 29) will be held at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. All of these tournament games will be televised on the ESPN family of networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPNU. The NIT will be available through ESPN’s digital platform WatchESPN, accessible on computers, smartphones, tablets and connected devices to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.
The following are the scheduled game start times (all times Eastern; start times subject to change), locations and respective networks for the first two days of tournament action:
First Round: Tuesday, March 13, 2018
7:00 p.m. on ESPN: Baylor/Louisville Quadrant
[7] Northern Kentucky @ [2] Louisville
Announcers: Anish Shroff, Dino Gaudio
7:00 p.m. on ESPN2: Baylor/Louisville Quadrant
[8] Wagner @ [1] Baylor
Announcers: Mark Neely, Fran Fraschilla
8:00 p.m. on ESPNU: Baylor/Louisville Quadrant
[6] Vermont @ [3] Middle Tennessee
Announcers: Jim Barbar, Mark Wise
8:00 p.m. on ESPN3: USC/Oklahoma State Quadrant
[5] Boston College @ [4] Western Kentucky
Announcers: Dave Weekley, Rob Kennedy
9:00 p.m. on ESPN: Notre Dame/Marquette Quadrant
[8] Hampton @ [1] Notre Dame
Announcers: Bob Wischusen, Robbie Hummel
9:00 p.m. on ESPN2: USC/Oklahoma State Quadrant
[7] Florida Gulf Coast @ [2] Oklahoma State
Announcers: Chuckie Kempf, Tim Welsh
10:00 p.m. on ESPNU: Saint Mary’s/Utah Quadrant
[8] Southeastern Louisiana @ [1] Saint Mary’s
Announcers: Roxy Bernstein, Corey Williams
10:00 p.m. on ESPN3: Notre Dame/Marquette Quadrant
[6] Rider @ [3] Oregon
Announcers: Trey Bender, Bill Herenda
11:00 p.m. on ESPN2: USC/Oklahoma State Quadrant
[8] UNC Asheville @ [1] USC
Announcers: Dave Pasch, Bill Walton
First Round: Wednesday, March 14, 2018
7:00 p.m. on ESPN2: Notre Dame/Marquette Quadrant
[7] Harvard @ [2] Marquette
Announcers: Mitch Holthus, Mark Adams
7:00 p.m. on ESPN3: Saint Mary’s/Utah Quadrant
[6] Louisiana @ [3] LSU
Announcers: Drew Fellios, Bob Valvano
8:00 p.m. on ESPNU: Notre Dame/Marquette Quadrant
[5] Temple @ [4] Penn State
Announcers: Mike Corey, Malcom Huckaby
9:00 p.m. on ESPN2: Baylor/Louisville Quadrant
[4] Nebraska @ [5] Mississippi State
Announcers: Richard Cross, Paul Biancardi
9:00 p.m. on ESPN3: Saint Mary’s/Utah Quadrant
[7] UC Davis @ [2] Utah
Announcers: Steve Quis, Ben Braun
10:00 p.m. on ESPNU: USC/Oklahoma State Quadrant
[6] BYU @ [3] Stanford
Announcers: Mike Crispino, Corey Williams
10:00 p.m. on ESPN3: Saint Mary’s/Utah Quadrant
[4] Boise State @ [5] Washington
Announcers: Trey Bender, Jason Capel
