NIT Preview

Story posted March 16, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Dale Ostrander

The NIT Tournament is back in action this year at full force. So many mid-major programs won their regular-season championship, but lost in their conference tournaments. Plus teams that were so close to making the March Madness tournament, are all now placed in a 32-team bracket ready to duel it out.

Every year in the NIT, every single team in this tournament lost the last game they played. Teams can come in happy to be here and want to prove a point to the rest of the country that they should’ve been in the tournament. Teams can also come in down on themselves because they’re upset they aren’t in the tournament.

One thing is for sure, whether it is a mid-major school or Power 5 school, one school will come ready to play, upset with how the season ended.

Here’s a deeper dive on who’s in the NIT bracket and who can win it all this year.

The top four seeds in the NIT bracket are the Dayton Flyers, the Oklahoma Sooners, the SMU Mustangs and the Texas A&M Aggies.

These four teams were the first four teams left out of the NCAA March Madness tournament.

Some other notable mid-major teams that won their regular-season championship but lost out in the conference tournament are the Iona Gaels, the Cleveland State Vikings and the North Texas Mean Green.

The Gaels are led by MAAC Coach of the Year Rick Pitino, as they achieved a 25-7 in the MAAC this year. The biggest win of the Gaels season is when they were able to upset then-No. 10 Alabama in a four-point win. In another major matchup the Gaels were able to keep it close and only lose by 10 to No. 4 Kansas for one of their seven losses on the season.

The Gaels will match up against the Florida Gators in their first contest of the NIT. The Gators had a rough task this year, as the SEC was filled with many top-ranked teams in the country.

The Gators only had two ranked wins this year, which could lead to why they are in the NIT tournament, but a late season ranked win over No. 2 Auburn gave their resume an added boost to make the tournament.

However, it has all fallen apart since that win. They ended the season losing three of their last five and coach Mike White leaving for the Georgia head coaching job.

In the matchup between the Gaels and Gators the Gaels could come in and leave the Gators limping into the offseason

The Dayton Flyers come in with a 23-10 record this season with a win over then-No. 4 Kansas in the beginning of the season. However, their resume wasn’t enough to convince the committee to put them into March Madness.

The Gaels or Flyers are both teams that are well equipped to come out of the left side of the bracket and the winner of that matchup could have a great chance at winning it all.

On the right side of the bracket, there are several teams that can make their way to the championship game.

The SMU Mustangs and Wake Forest Demon Deacons are two teams that could fight for the championship game.

The Demon Deacons ended their season with an upset loss to Boston College in the ACC Tournament. This loss left them out of the tournament even with 23 wins in their season.

The Mustangs finished the season hot, but with a loss to the even hotter Memphis Tigers relegated them to the NIT. Although, the Mustangs were a real threat to every team they played this year and will be in the NIT.


Dale Ostrander is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email dko5097@psu.edu.