The 2008 National Invitation Tournament (known through sponsorship as the MasterCard NIT) was a single-elimination tournament of 32 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that did not participate in the 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The 71st annual tournament began on March 18 on campus sites and ended on April 3 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.71st Annual National Invitation Tournament :: <blank> Each regular season conference champion that did not receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament received an automatic bid to this tournament. The remaining slots were filled by the NIT Selection Committee.NIT – National Invitation Tournament The first, second, and third rounds were played on the higher seeded team's home court, with the semi-finals and finals played at Madison Square Garden.
The Ohio State Buckeyes won the tournament.
Selection Committee The 2008 NIT Selection Committee consists of the following former college basketball coaches and administrators:NIT – National Invitation Tournament Rudy Davalos Don DeVoe Gene Keady Reggie Minton C. M. Newton (chair) John J. Powers Carroll Williams
Participants
Automatic qualifiers The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2008 NIT field after losing in their respective conference tournaments; by virtue of winning their conferences' regular season championship and not qualifying for the NCAA tournament.
TeamConferenceRecordAppearanceLast bidSWAC20–102nd1983MEAC22–101stNeverNortheast26–71stNeverSouthland26–52nd1987Big West23–85th2003Big South23–91stNeverWAC24–109th2007VCUCAA24–75th2005
Seedings SeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type 1Ohio StateBig Ten19–13At-large2Illinois StateMVC24–9At-large3DaytonA-1021–10At-large4CaliforniaPac-1016–15At-large5MWC24–8At-large6Cleveland StateHorizon21–12At-large7WAC24–10Automatic8Big South23–9AutomaticSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type1Virginia TechACC19–13At-large2Ole MissSEC21–10At-large3Big 1219–12At-large4VCUCAA24–7Automatic5C-USA22–10At-large6A-1020–13At-large7Big West23–8Automatic8MEAC22–10AutomaticSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type1Arizona StatePac-1019–12At-large2FloridaSEC21–11At-large3MVC21–10At-large4MVC17–14At-large5Big 1217–15At-large6A-1021–11At-large7MWC20–12At-large8SWAC20–10AutomaticSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type1SyracuseBig East19–13At-large2UMassA-1021–10At-large3Florida StateACC19–14At-large4MinnesotaBig Ten20–13At-large5MarylandACC18–14At-large6MAC23–10At-large7Southland26–5Automatic8NEC26–7Automatic
Bracket
^ Game played at nearby St. John Arena due to a Bruce Springsteen concert at Value City Arena.
Semifinals and Final Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City on April 1 and 3
* - Overtime game.
See also 2008 Women's National Invitation Tournament 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 2008 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament 2008 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament 2008 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament 2008 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament 2008 NAIA Division II men's basketball tournament 2008 College Basketball Invitational
References