Teams 32 | ||
Finals site Madison Square GardenNew York City Semifinalists Mississippi (2nd semifinal)Rhode Island (3rd semifinal) | ||
The 2010 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The 73rd annual tournament began on March 16 on campus sites and ended on April 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Dayton won their 3rd NIT title (first title since 1968) over North Carolina, 79-68.
Contents
Automatic qualifiers
The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2010 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.
*Jacksonville split the Atlantic Sun regular season title with Campbell, Lipscomb and Belmont, but the conference tournament was won by fifth-seeded East Tennessee State. The Dolphins earned the automatic NIT bid by advancing the furthest of the four in the Atlantic Sun tournament even though Lipscomb was the #1 seed in the tournament.
The entire 32-team field was announced on March 14, 2010 on The NIT Selection Show at 9 pm ET on ESPNU.
Bracket
Played on the home court of the higher-seeded team (except #1 Illinois in the first round)
NIT Final Four
Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City