The 2018 National Invitation Tournament was a

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

of 32 NCAA Division I college men's basketball teams that were not selected to participate in the 2018 NCAA tournament. The first three rounds of the annual tournament were played on campus sites (the host team being the higher seeded team). The semifinals and championship game were held at

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Experimental rules

In February 2018, the NCAA approved a number of experimental rule changes for use in this tournament: * Games were played in 10-minute quarters instead of 20-minute halves. The NCAA has used this timing convention for women's basketball since the 2015–16 season. * As in NCAA women's basketball, as well as the 2017 NIT, there were no "one-and-one" foul shots. Starting with the fifth foul in each quarter, non-shooting fouls by the defense resulted in two free throws, with the exception of administrative technical fouls (for which only one shot is awarded). The 2018 NIT, however, returned to the standard NCAA procedure of treating overtime periods as extensions of the final period of regulation for purposes of team foul accumulation. * The three-point line changed to the current

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

distance of from the center of the basket, except along the sidelines. Once the arc reaches a distance of from the sideline, it becomes a straight line parallel to the sideline. * The free-throw lane was wide, the same width as in ( W) NBA and FIBA rules, instead of the in the current NCAA rules. * The shot clock was reset to 20 seconds after an offensive rebound. ;Notes

Participants

Automatic qualifiers

The following teams were guaranteed berths into the 2018 NIT field by having the best regular season record in their conference but failing to either win their conference tournament or earn an at-large berth in the 2018 NCAA tournament.

Grambling State Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage ...

won the SWAC regular season title but was banned from the postseason due to low graduation rates and did not participate in the conference tournament. There was thus no automatic qualifier from the SWAC.

At-large bids

The following 20 teams were also awarded NIT berths.

Bids by conference

Seeds

Schedule

The NIT Tournament began on Tuesday, March 13, 2018. Due to a conflict at Taco Bell Arena (with the NCAA tournament), Boise State travelled to the University of Washington for their first round match. The first three rounds were played on campus sites. The Semifinals were held on Tuesday, March 27, and the Championship Game was held on Thursday, March 29, at

Bracket

''^'' Game played at Washington due to Taco Bell Arena hosting First and Second Round 2018 NCAA tournament games. * Denotes overtime period

Media

ESPN, Inc. had exclusive television rights to all of the NIT Games. It was telecast every game across

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

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, and

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had exclusive radio rights to the semifinals and the championship.

References

{{2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament navbox National Invitation

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

2010s in Manhattan

Basketball in New York City College sports in New York City Madison Square Garden

National Invitation Tournament Sports competitions in New York City Sports in Manhattan