National Invitation Tournament Changes Selection Process for 2024
The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) has announced changes to its selection process for the 2024 tournament. The NIT Board of Managers stated that they will no longer award automatic bids to conference regular-season champions who do not win their conference tournaments or do not qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
Moving forward, the NIT will guarantee two teams from each of the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and Southeastern conferences, based on the NCAA’s NET rankings. The top two teams in the NET rankings from each conference that do not qualify for the NCAA Tournament will be selected, regardless of their won-loss records. These 12 teams will also be given the opportunity to host a first-round game in the NIT.
To complete the field of 32 teams, the NIT will select the 20 best available teams and choose four teams from that pool to be first-round hosts. Priority will be given to the “first four teams out” of the NCAA Tournament.
In addition to the changes in the selection process, experimental rules have been approved for the 2024 NIT tournament. The free throw lane will be widened from 12 feet to 16 feet, aligning it with the width used in the NBA and FIBA. The modified timeout format introduced last year will also continue to be implemented, with second-half media timeouts occurring at the 17-, 14-, 8-, and 4-minute marks.
The NIT’s decision to eliminate guaranteed automatic bids for regular-season conference winners that do not win their league tournaments may have ramifications for mid-major and low-major conferences. There are concerns that the power conferences will continue to expand their influence, potentially leaving smaller schools behind. In light of this, there have been suggestions of expanding the NCAA Tournament or creating a separate Power 6-only postseason tournament.
Dan Gavitt, NIT board chair and NCAA senior vice president of basketball, stated that the changes to the selection process were necessary to keep up with the evolving college basketball landscape and the increasing competitiveness for teams that do not qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
The NIT falls under the purview of the NCAA, causing some to question whether these changes could be a test balloon for potential future adjustments to the NCAA Tournament.
College basketball fans and stakeholders will be closely watching the 2024 NIT tournament to gauge the impact of these changes on the overall college basketball landscape.
(Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty)