2017 National Invitation Tournament

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2017 National Invitation Tournament
Season2016–17
Teams32
Finals siteMadison Square Garden
New York City
ChampionsTCU Horned Frogs (1st title)
Runner-upGeorgia Tech Yellow Jackets (2nd title game)
Semifinalists
Winning coachJamie Dixon (1st title)
MVPKenrich Williams (TCU)
National Invitation Tournaments
«2016 2018»

The 2017 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2017 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament was played on campus sites in the first three rounds (the host team being the team with the higher seeding), with the semifinals and championship game being held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The tournament began on Tuesday, March 14 and ended on Thursday, March 30. The NIT Selection Show aired Sunday March 12 on ESPNU.

Experimental rules

In February 2017, the NCAA approved a number of experimental rule changes for use in this tournament:[1]

  • Team fouls were reset to zero at the end of every 10-minute segment of each half (officially at 9:59). Similar to women's college basketball, the game was split into quarters for purposes of team fouls, but without a period break.
  • There were no "one-and-one" foul shots. Instead, starting with the fifth total foul in each 10-minute segment, non-shooting fouls by the defensive team resulted in two free throws, with the only exception being administrative technical fouls. This mirrored foul counting in NCAA women's basketball, which has been played in quarters since the 2015–16 season.
  • In a feature unique in the college game, but similar to that used by the (W)NBA, overtime was considered a separate period for purposes of accrued team fouls. The team foul limit was three per overtime period, with all non-shooting team fouls thereafter by the defense resulting in two free throws.
  • The shot clock was reset to 20 seconds when the ball was inbounded in the frontcourt following a foul (similar to the (W)NBA and FIBA, where a shot clock is reset to 14 seconds on such).

Participants

Automatic qualifiers

The following 10 teams were guaranteed berths into the 2017 NIT field when they failed to receive an at-large NCAA bid by virtue of having won their respective conference's regular season championship and failing to win their conference tournaments.

Team Conference Record Appearance Last bid
Belmont Ohio Valley 26–6 4th 2016
Illinois State Missouri Valley 27–6 14th 2015
Monmouth Metro Atlantic 27–6 2nd 2016
Oakland Horizon 24–8 1st Never
South Dakota Summit 22–11 1st Never
UNC Greensboro Southern 25–9 2nd 2002
UT Arlington Sun Belt 25–8 3rd 2012
Akron MAC 26–8 7th 2016
UC Irvine Big West 21–14 6th 2014
Cal State Bakersfield WAC 22–9 1st Never

At-large bids

The following 22 teams were also awarded NIT berths.

Team Conference Record Appearance Last bid
Alabama SEC 19–14 15th 2016
Boise State Mtn West 19–11 5th 2004
BYU WCC 22–11 13th 2016
California Pac-12 21–12 9th 2014
Clemson ACC 17–15 16th 2014
College of Charleston CAA 25–9 5th 2011
Colorado Pac-12 19–14 9th 2011
Colorado State Mtn West 23–11 9th 2015
Fresno State Mtn West 20–12 10th 2007
Georgia SEC 19–14 14th 2016
Georgia Tech ACC 17–15 9th 2016
Houston American 21–10 11th 2016
Illinois Big Ten 18–14 7th 2015
Indiana Big Ten 18–15 5th 2005
Iowa Big Ten 18–14 8th 2013
Ole Miss SEC 20–13 12th 2012
Richmond Atlantic 10 20–12 9th 2015
Syracuse ACC 18–14 13th 2008
TCU Big 12 19–15 7th 2005
UCF American 20–11 2nd 2012
Utah Pac-12 20–11 13th 2014
Valparaiso Horizon 24–8 4th 2016

Bids by conference

Conference Bids
ACC, Big Ten, Mtn West, Pac-12, SEC 3
American, Horizon 2
Atlantic 10, Big 12, Big West, CAA, MAAC, MAC, Missouri Valley, Ohio Valley, SoCon, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast, WAC 1
America East, ASUN, Big East, Big Sky, Big South, C-USA, Ivy League, MEAC, Northeast, Patriot, Southland, SWAC 0

Seeds

Schedule

The NIT began on Tuesday, March 14. The first three rounds were played at campus sites. The semifinals were held on Tuesday, March 28 and the championship on Thursday, March 30 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.[2]

Bracket

First round Second round Quarterfinals
         
1 Syracuse 90
8 UNC Greensboro 77
1 Syracuse 80
5 Ole Miss 85
4 Monmouth 83
5 Ole Miss 91
5 Ole Miss 66
6 Georgia Tech 74
3 Indiana^ 63
6 Georgia Tech 75
6 Georgia Tech 71
7 Belmont 57
2 Georgia 69
7 Belmont 78

^ Indiana Athletic Director Fred Glass declined to host a home game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall citing concern it would "devalue" the Hoosiers' home court.[3]

First round Second round Quarterfinals
         
1 California 66
8 Cal State Bakersfield 73
8 Cal State Bakersfield 81
4 Colorado State 63
4 Colorado State 81
5 Charleston 74
8 Cal State Bakersfield 80
6 UT Arlington 76
3 BYU 89
6 UT Arlington 105
6 UT Arlington 85
7 Akron 69
2 Houston75
7 Akron 78

Game played at Texas Southern's Health and Physical Education Arena due to renovations at Hofheinz Pavilion.

First round Second round Quarterfinals
         
1 Illinois State 85
8 UC Irvine 71
1 Illinois State 62
4 UCF 63
4 UCF 79
5 Colorado 74
4 UCF 68
2 Illinois^ 58
3 Utah 68
6 Boise State 73
6 Boise State 56
2 Illinois 71
2 Illinois 82
7 Valparaiso 57

^ Game played at UCF due to prior scheduled event at the State Farm Center.

First round Second round Quarterfinals
         
1 Iowa 87
8 South Dakota 75
1 Iowa 92
4 TCU 94
4 TCU 66
5 Fresno State 59
4 TCU 86
6 Richmond 68
3 Alabama 64
6 Richmond 71
6 Richmond 87
7 Oakland 83
2 Clemson 69
7 Oakland 74
Semifinals
March 28
Final
March 30
      
6 Georgia Tech 76
8 Cal State Bakersfield 61
6 Georgia Tech 56
4 TCU 88
4 UCF 53
4 TCU 68

Media

ESPN, Inc. had exclusive television rights. Games were telecast on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, or ESPN3. Westwood One had exclusive radio rights to the semifinals and the championship.

See also

References

  1. ^ Brown, C.L. (February 13, 2017). "NIT to experiment with resetting fouls every 10 minutes". ESPN. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  2. ^ "NIT Championship Home". NCAA.com. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  3. ^ Bonesteel, Matt (March 15, 2017). "Indiana didn't want to 'devalue' its home court by hosting an NIT game". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 16, 2017.