ESPN to Exclusively Present the National Invitation Tournament

The 80th annual National Invitation Tournament (NIT) will air exclusively on ESPN networks beginning with the first round (March 14-15), followed by the second round (March 16-20) and quarterfinals (March 21-22), all from campus locations. The NIT will conclude on ESPN with the semifinals (March 28) and championship (March 30) games from New York's historic Madison Square Garden with Bob Wischusen and Fran Fraschilla will be on the call of the games.

The NIT opens with NCAA Tournament bubble team Syracuse against UNC Greensboro, the automatic qualifier from the Southern Conference on Tuesday, March 14 (ESPN, 7 p.m.), followed by a matchup between the Big Ten's Indiana at the ACC's Georgia Tech (ESPN, 9 p.m.). Wednesday's action includes automatic qualifiers - Illinois State of the Missouri Valley against UC Irvine of the Big West (ESPNU, 9:30 p.m.).

The complete 32-team field was announced on ESPNU's NIT Selection Special (March 12). All NIT games will also be available through WatchESPN, accessible on computers, smartphones, tablets and streaming devices to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.

The complete bracket is available here.

NIT Field Highlights

• 1 Seeds: California, Illinois State, Iowa and Syracuse
• 20+ Wins: 21 teams in the field have at least 20 victories with Illinois State and Monmouth both recording 27 wins on the season
• Conferences: A total of 20 (of 32) Division I conferences are represented
• Automatic Qualifiers: 10 teams were automatic qualifiers by virtue of winning their conference's regular-season title

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