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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).
A total of 32 teams comprise the NIT. The first four teams left out of the 2016 NCAA tournament field will be the top-seeded teams in the 2016 NIT. They were St. Bonaventure, South Carolina, Monmouth and Valparaiso.
22 teams in the field have 20 or more wins with UAB and Albany both setting the high-water mark with 26.
A total of 24 conferences are represented in this year’s NIT.
31 games will be played in this 79th annual edition of the tournament from March 15-31. The NIT Semifinals (Mar. 29) and Final (Mar. 31) 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 15, 2016
7:00 p.m. on ESPN: Monmouth/Florida Quadrant
(#6) Akron @ (#3) Ohio State
Announcers: Bob Wischusen (play-by-play), Dan Dakich (analyst)
7:00 p.m. on ESPN2: Valparaiso/Saint Mary’s Quadrant
(#5) Davidson @ (#4) Florida State
Announcers: Mark Jones (play-by-play), Fran Fraschilla (analyst)
7:00 p.m. on ESPNU: South Carolina/San Diego State Quadrant
(#8) High Point @ (#1) South Carolina
Announcers: Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play), Dino Gaudio (analyst)
9:00 p.m. on ESPN: St. Bonaventure/BYU Quadrant
(#5) Alabama @ (#4) Creighton
Announcers: Jason Benetti (play-by-play), Daymeon Fishback (analyst)
9:00 p.m. on ESPN2: South Carolina/San Diego State Quadrant
(#6) Long Beach State @ (#3) Washington
Announcers: Roy Philpott (play-by-play), Corey Williams (analyst)
9:00 p.m. on ESPNU: Monmouth/Florida Quadrant
(#2) Florida @ (#7) North Florida
Announcers: Mike Morgan (play-by-play), Paul Biancardi (analyst)
9:15 p.m. on ESPN3: Valparaiso/Saint Mary’s Quadrant
(#8) Texas Southern @ (#1) Valpariso
Announcers: Jordan Bernfield (play-by-play), Mark Adams (analyst)
10:00 p.m. on ESPN3: South Carolina/San Diego State Quadrant
(#7) IPFW @ (#2) San Diego State
Announcers: Trey Bender (play-by-play), Richie Schueler (analyst)
11:00 p.m. on ESPN2: Valparaiso/Saint Mary’s Quadrant
(#7) New Mexico State @ (#2) Saint Mary’s
Announcers: Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play), Miles Simon (analyst)
First Round: Wednesday, March 16, 2016
7:00 p.m. on ESPN2: Valparaiso/Saint Mary’s Quadrant
(#6) Belmont @ (#3) Georgia
Announcers: Dave Flemming (play-by-play), Sean Farnham (analyst)
7:00 p.m. on ESPN3: St. Bonaventure/BYU Quadrant
(#8) Wagner @ (#1) St. Bonaventure
Announcers: Doug Sherman (play-by-play), Julianne Viani Jonathan (analyst)
7:30 p.m. on ESPN3: Monmouth/Florida Quadrant
(#8) Bucknell @ (#1) Monmouth
Announcers: Jonathan Yardley (play-by-play), Malcolm Huckaby (analyst)
8:00 p.m. on ESPNU: St. Bonaventure/BYU Quadrant
(#6) Princeton @ (#3) Virginia Tech
Announcers: Mike Couzens (play-by-play), Jason Capel (analyst)
8:00 p.m. on ESPN3: Monmouth/Florida Quadrant
(#5) Hofstra @ (#4) George Washington
Announcers: Dave Leno (play-by-play), Craig Robinson (analyst)
9:00 p.m. on ESPN2: South Carolina/San Diego State Quadrant
(#5) Houston @ (#4) Georgia Tech
Announcers: Tom Hart (play-by-play), Cory Alexander (analyst)
10:00 p.m. on ESPNU: St. Bonaventure/BYU Quadrant
(#7) UAB @ (#2) BYU
Announcers: Mitch Holthus (play-by-play), Corey Williams (analyst)
