SMU, Dayton, UC Irvine and San Francisco secured No. 1 seeds for the 2025 NIT. The 32-team field was announced Sunday with action beginning Tuesday at campus sites. The tournament will culminate in Indianapolis, Indiana with semifinals on April 1 and the championship game on April 3.
The NIT format will look different again this year because of the College Basketball Crown, a new postseason tournament launched by Fox Sports that will begin this spring. The NCAA distributed 16 bids to “exempt” teams meeting certain criteria for the NIT this season.
Only four power conference teams are competing in the NIT: Georgia Tech, Stanford, SMU and Oklahoma State. Multiple high-major programs — such as Indiana, South Carolina and Wake Forest — declined an invitation to the NIT after missing out on the NCAA Tournament. Last year, Oklahoma, Pitt, St. John’s, and Indiana were among the teams that declined an invite.
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Historically, the event’s semifinals and final were contested at Madison Square Garden, but the NCAA began accepting bids from numerous cities to host the tournament beginning in 2023.
Here is a look at the full bracket.
2025 NIT key dates
First Round: March 18-19
Second round: March 22-23
Quarterfinals: March 25-26
Semifinals: April 1 (Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis)
Championship: April 3 (Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis)
All times Eastern
2025 NIT First Round schedule
Games in the first three rounds to be played at the higher-seeded team’s home arena
Top Left Bracket
No. 1 SMU vs. Northern Iowa | Wednesday, 7 p.m.
No. 2 North Texas vs. Furman | Tuesday, 9 p.m.
No. 3 Arkansas State vs. Saint Louis | Tuesday, 9 p.m.
No. 4 Oklahoma State vs. Wichita State | Tuesday, 9 p.m.
Bottom Left Bracket
No. 1 Dayton vs. Florida Atlantic | Wednesday, 7 p.m.
No. 2 George Mason vs. Samford | Wednesday, 7 p.m.
No. 3 Bradley vs. North Alabama | Wednesday 8 p.m.
No. 4 Middle Tennessee vs. Chattanooga | Tuesday, 8 p.m.
Upper Right Bracket
No. 1 UC Irvine vs. Northern Colorado | Wednesday, 10 p.m.
No. 2 Santa Clara vs. UC Riverside | Tuesday, 11 p.m.
No. 3 Saint Joseph’s vs. UAB | Wednesday, 7 p.m.
No. 4 Georgia Tech vs. Jacksonville State | Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Lower Right Bracket
No. 1 San Francisco vs. Utah Valley | Wednesday, 11 p.m.
No. 2 Stanford vs. CSUN | Tuesday, 11 p.m.
No. 3 St. Bonaventure vs. Kent State | Tuesday, 7 p.m.
No. 4 San Jose State vs. Loyola Chicago| Wednesday 11 p.m.
