2019 National Invitation Tournament

2019 National Invitation Tournament
Season2018–19
Teams32
Finals siteMadison Square Garden
New York City
ChampionsTexas Longhorns (2nd title)
Runner-upLipscomb Bisons (1st title game)
Semifinalists
Winning coachShaka Smart (1st title)
MVPDylan Osetkowski (Texas)
National Invitation Tournaments
«2018 2020»

The 2019 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I men's college basketball teams that were not selected to participate in the 2019 NCAA tournament. The tournament started on March 19, and concluded on April 4. The first three rounds were played on campus sites with the higher seeded team acting as host. The semifinals and championship game were held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Experimental rules

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On February 22, 2019, the NCAA announced a set of experimental rules that were used in this edition of the NIT.[1]

The following rules were also used in the 2018 NIT:

  • The three-point line was moved to the FIBA standard of 6.75 metres (22 ft 2 in). When the arc approaches the sideline, it changed to a line parallel to and 1.02 metres (3 ft 4 in) from the sideline.[a]
  • The free-throw lane was widened from the current college standard of 12 feet to the NBA standard of 16 feet.
  • After an offensive rebound, the shot clock was reset to 20 seconds instead of the current NCAA standard of 30.

A set of rules relating to free throws that had been used in the 2017 NIT[2] were used again in the 2019 edition, with one modification:

  • Team foul counts, for purposes of determining bonus free throws, were reset to zero at the 10-minute mark of each half, effectively dividing the game into quarters for that purpose. This mirrored the current practice in NCAA women's basketball, which has been played in quarters since the 2015–16 season.
  • The "one-and-one" was eliminated. All bonus free throw situations resulted in two free throws for the non-fouled team.
  • Teams entered the bonus upon the fifth team foul in each 10-minute segment.
  • The team foul count was reset to zero at the start of any overtime period. Teams entered the bonus upon the fourth team foul in an overtime period.
  • In a completely new feature, the NCAA adopted the NBA's bonus rule regarding team fouls in the last 2 minutes of any period. Teams entered the bonus on the second team foul in the last 2 minutes of a 10-minute segment or overtime period, regardless of the total team foul count at that point of the period.
Notes
  1. ^ FIBA's definition of the three-point arc calls for the line to be exactly 0.9 metres (2 ft 11 in) from the sideline until it intersects the 6.75 m arc. However, the FIBA court is officially defined as 15 m (49 ft 3 in) wide, slightly narrower than the NCAA standard of 50 ft (15.24 m). On a FIBA court, the closest three-point distance, found along a line parallel to the baseline that passes through the center of the basket, is thus 6.6 m (21 ft 8 in) from the center of the basket. Translating this distance to the NCAA court dimensions results in the line being the stated 1.02 m from the sidelines.

Participants

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Automatic qualifiers

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The following teams were guaranteed berths into the 2019 NIT field by having the best regular season record in their conference but failing to win their conference tournament. Such teams were eligible to receive an at-large berth into the NCAA tournament but did not.

Team Conference Overall record Appearance Last bid
Campbell Big South 20–12 1st Never
Harvard Ivy League 18–11 3rd 2018
Hofstra Colonial 27–7 6th 2016
Lipscomb ASUN 25–7 2nd 2006
Loyola–Chicago Missouri Valley 20–13 5th 1980
Norfolk State MEAC 21–13 2nd 2013
Saint Francis (PA) Northeast 18–14 4th 1958
Sam Houston State Southland 21–11 1st Never
South Dakota State Summit 24–8 2nd 2015
Wright State Horizon 21–13 1st Never

At-large bids

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The following teams were also awarded NIT berths.

Team Conference Overall record Appearance Last bid
Alabama SEC 18–15 16th 2017
Arkansas SEC 17–15 4th 2014
Butler Big East 16–16 9th 2006
Clemson ACC 19–13 17th 2017
Colorado Pac-12 21–12 11th 2017
Creighton Big East 18–14 12th 2016
Davidson Atlantic 10 24–9 8th 2016
Dayton Atlantic 10 21–11 25th 2012
Furman Southern 25–7 2nd 1991
Georgetown Big East 19–13 13th 2014
Indiana Big Ten 17–15 6th 2017
Memphis American 21–13 18th 2010
NC State ACC 22–11 12th 2007
Nebraska Big Ten 18–16 19th 2018
Providence Big East 18–15 20th 2013
San Diego WCC 21–14 1st Never
TCU Big 12 20–13 8th 2017
Texas Big 12 16–16 5th 1986
Toledo MAC 25–7 9th 2014
UNC Greensboro Southern 28–6 3rd 2017
Wichita State American 19–14 13th 2011
Xavier Big East 18–15 8th 2000

Seeds

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Bracket

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First round
March 19–20
Campus sites
Second round
March 23–24
Campus sites
Quarterfinal
March 27
Reynolds Coliseum
         
1 UNC Greensboro 84
8 Campbell 69
1 UNC Greensboro 69
5 Lipscomb 86
4 Davidson 81
5 Lipscomb 89
5 Lipscomb 94
2 NC State 93
3 Georgetown 68
6 Harvard 71
6 Harvard 77
2 NC State 78
2 NC State 84
7 Hofstra 78
First round
March 19–20
Campus sites
Second round
March 24–25
Campus sites
Quarterfinal
March 27
Frank Erwin Center
         
1 Alabama 79
8 Norfolk State 80*
8 Norfolk State 60
4 Colorado 76
4 Colorado 78
5 Dayton 73
4 Colorado 55
2 Texas 68
3 Xavier 78
6 Toledo 64
3 Xavier 76
2 Texas 78*
2 Texas 79
7 South Dakota State 73
First round
March 19–20
Campus sites
Second round
March 22–24
Campus sites
Quarterfinal
March 26
Schollmaier Arena
         
1 TCU 82
8 Sam Houston State 69
1 TCU 88
4 Nebraska 72
4 Nebraska 80
5 Butler 76
1 TCU 71
2 Creighton 58
3 Memphis 74
6 San Diego 60
3 Memphis 67
2 Creighton 79
2 Creighton 70
7 Loyola–Chicago 61
First round
March 19–20
Campus sites
Second round
March 23–24
Campus sites
Quarterfinal
March 26
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall
         
1 Indiana 89
8 Saint Francis (PA) 72
1 Indiana 63
5 Arkansas 60
4 Providence 72
5 Arkansas 84
1 Indiana 63
6 Wichita State 73
3 Furman 70
6 Wichita State 76
6 Wichita State 63
2 Clemson 55
2 Clemson 75
7 Wright State 69
Semifinals
April 2
Madison Square Garden
Final
April 4
Madison Square Garden
      
6 Wichita State 64
5 Lipscomb 71
5 Lipscomb 66
2 Texas 81
1 TCU 44
2 Texas 58

* Denotes overtime period

Media

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ESPN, Inc. had exclusive television rights to all of the NIT Games. It telecast every game across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPN3. Westwood One had exclusive radio rights to the semifinals and the championship.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Experimental rules to be used at 2019 NIT" (Press release). NCAA. February 22, 2019. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  2. ^ Brown, C.L. (February 13, 2017). "NIT to experiment with resetting fouls every 10 minutes". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 13, 2017.