The 2015 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2015 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament is being played on campus sites for the first three rounds, with the Final Four and championship game being held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The tournament began on Tuesday, March 17 and ended on Thursday, April 2. On February 6, the NCAA announced the 2015 NIT will use a 30-second shot clock (same as its WNIT counterpart) and a restricted-area arc as experimental rules for the 2015 tournament. On March 4, the NCAA announced teams that are marked as the first four teams left out of the 2015 NCAA tournament field will be the top-seeded teams in the 2015 NIT.

Participants

Automatic qualifiers The following teams earned automatic berths into the 2015 NIT field by virtue of having won their respective conference's regular season championship but failing to win their conference tournaments or receive an at-large NCAA bid.

TeamConferenceRecordAppearanceLast bidBucknellPatriot19–142nd2012Central MichiganMid-American23–82nd1979Charleston SouthernBig South19–112nd2013IonaMAAC26–86th2014Louisiana TechC-USA25–89th2014MontanaBig Sky20–124th1995Murray StateOhio Valley27–58th2011North Carolina CentralMEAC25–71stNeverSouth Dakota StateSummit23–101stNeverSt. Francis BrooklynNortheast23–114th1963UC DavisBig West25–61stNeverWilliam & MaryColonial20–123rd2010

At-large bids The following 20 teams were also awarded NIT berths. TeamConferenceRecordAppearanceLast bidAlabamaSEC18–1413th2013Arizona StatePac-1217–1513th2013Colorado StateMountain West27–68th2011George WashingtonAtlantic 1021–125th2004Green BayHorizon24–84th2014IllinoisBig Ten19–136th2014Illinois StateMissouri Valley21–1213th2012Miami (FL)ACC21–1211th2012Old DominionC-USA24–711th2006PittsburghACC19–149th2001Rhode IslandAtlantic 1022–915th2010RichmondAtlantic 1019–138th2008Saint Mary'sWest Coast21–94th2014StanfordPac-1219–138th2013TempleAmerican23–1017th2006Texas A&MSEC20–117th2005TulsaAmerican22–1010th2010UConnAmerican20–1413th2010UTEPC-USA22–1010th2011VanderbiltSEC19–1312th2006

Seeds +Old Dominion bracketSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type1Old DominionC-USA24–7At-large2TulsaAmerican22–10At-large3Murray StateOhio Valley27–5Automatic4Illinois StateMissouri Valley21–12At-large5Green BayHorizon24–8At-large6UTEPC-USA22–10At-large7William & MaryColonial20–12Automatic8Charleston SouthernBig South19–11Automatic+Richmond bracketSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type1 RichmondAtlantic 1019–13At-large2Miami (FL)ACC21–12At-large3IllinoisBig Ten19–13At-large4UConnAmerican20–14At-large5Arizona StatePac-1217–15At-large6AlabamaSEC18–14At-large7North Carolina CentralMEAC25–7Automatic8St. Francis BrooklynNortheast23–11Automatic+Temple bracketSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type1TempleAmerican23–10At-large2Texas A&MSEC20–11At-large3Louisiana TechC-USA25–8Automatic4PittsburghACC19–14At-large5George WashingtonAtlantic 1021–12At-large6Central MichiganMAC23–8Automatic7MontanaBig Sky20–12Automatic8BucknellPatriot19–14Automatic+Colorado State bracketSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type1Colorado StateMountain West27–6At-large2 StanfordPac-1219–13At-large3 Rhode IslandAtlantic 1022–9At-large4 Saint Mary'sWest Coast21–9At-large5 VanderbiltSEC19–13At-large6 IonaMAAC26–8Automatic7 UC DavisBig West25–6Automatic8South Dakota StateSummit23–10Automatic

Schedule Date Time* Matchup Television Score Attendance First round March 17 7:00 pm #5 George Washington at #4 Pittsburgh ESPN 60–54 3,049 7:00 pm #7 N.C. Central at #2 Miami (FL) ESPN2 71–75 1,612 7:00 pm #6 Iona at #3 Rhode Island ESPNU 75–882,638 7:30 pm #6 Central Michigan at #3 Louisiana Tech ESPN3 79–89 6,904 8:15 pm #7 William & Mary at #2 Tulsa ESPN3 67–702,547 9:00 pm #6 UTEP at #3 Murray State ESPN2 66–81 3,376 9:00 pm #7 Montana at #2 Texas A&M ESPNU 64–81 2,583 9:00 pm #3 Illinois at #6 Alabama ESPN 58–79 2,348 11:00 pm #7 UC Davis at #2 Stanford ESPN2 64–77 1,436 March 18 7:00 pm #8 Bucknell at #1 Temple ESPN3 67–73 3,882 7:00 pm #5 Arizona State at #4 UConn ESPN2 68–61 6,045 7:15 pm #8 Charleston Southern at #1 Old Dominion ESPN3 56–65 4,736 7:30 pm #8 St. Francis Brooklyn at #1 Richmond ESPN3 74–84 3,624 8:00 pm #5 Green Bay at #4 Illinois State ESPNU 56–69 4,942 9:00 pm #5 Vanderbilt at #4 Saint Mary's ESPN2 75–64 1,322 10:00 pm #8 South Dakota State at #1 Colorado State ESPNU 86–76 3,391 Second round March 20 9:30 pm #8 South Dakota State at #5 Vanderbilt ESPNU 77–92 5,605 March 21 11:00 am #6 Alabama @ #2 Miami (FL) ESPN 66–73 1,979 March 22 11:00 am #5 George Washington @ #1 Temple ESPN 77–90 3,404 7:30 pm #5 Arizona State @ #1 Richmond ESPNU 70–76 4,507 9:30 pm #3 Rhode Island @ #2 Stanford ESPNU 65–74 1,235 March 23 7:00 pm #3 Louisiana Tech @ #2 Texas A&M ESPN 84–72 3,859 8:00 pm #4 Illinois State @ #1 Old Dominion ESPNU 49–50 5,923 9:00 pm #3 Murray State @ #2 Tulsa ESPN 83–62 3,440 Quarterfinals March 24 7:00 pm #2 Miami (FL) @ #1 Richmond ESPN 63–61 6,126 9:00 pm #5 Vanderbilt @ #2 Stanford ESPN 75–78 1,546 March 25 9:00 pm #3 Louisiana Tech @ #1 Temple ESPN2 59–77 3,906 7:00 pm #3 Murray State @ #1 Old Dominion ESPN2 69–72 8,161 Semifinals March 31 7:00 pm #1Temple vs. #2 Miami (FL) ESPN 57–607,185 9:00 pm #2 Stanford vs. #1 Old Dominion ESPN 67–60 Championship game April 2 9:00 pm #2 Stanford vs. #2 Miami (FL) ESPN 66–64 (OT) 6,600 *Game times in Eastern Time. #Rankings denote tournament seeding.

Bracket The following teams were listed as the "First Four Out" of the NCAA tournament and received #1 seeds: Old Dominion, Richmond, Temple, Colorado State.

#3 Illinois played at #6 Alabama due to State Farm Center renovations.

* Denotes overtime period

Media ESPN, Inc. has exclusive television rights to all NIT games. It will telecast every game across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3. Since 2011, Westwood One has held exclusive radio rights to the semifinals and championship. In 2015, Dave Ryan and Kelly Tripucka called these games for Westwood One.

See also 2015 Women's National Invitation Tournament 2015 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 2015 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament 2015 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament 2015 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament 2015 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament 2015 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament 2015 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament 2015 NAIA Division II men's basketball tournament 2015 College Basketball Invitational 2015 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament

References