Well hello there! Are you getting excited for the NIT? Are you past the “getting” phase and are instead simply excited at this point? Or are you not yet excited?
Wherever you are on this spectrum of excitement, this is the NIT preview for you.
I won’t be talking about the experimental rules (except for noting that I love the one-and-one irrationally, and oppose its absence from my favorite tournament), because you’ll get a handy graphic on those whenever you watch a game, and they aren’t that significant anyway.
Instead, I’ll walk you through every team in this here tournament, telling you all the things you need to know. We’ll go down the bracket, starting on the left-hand side, then (as you may have guessed) going down the right.
UNC-Greensboro
Greensboro is a legendary NIT city. In 2017, after Jim Boeheim spoke with hatred and malice of the Carolinas’ third-most populous metropolis, and Greensboro clapped back with taunts about Syracuse losing, the Gods configured college basketball’s remaining conference tournaments such that the NIT Selection Committee was geographically compelled to place UNC-Greensboro in a first-round NIT matchup with Boeheim’s Orange.
Sadly, Syracuse was the home team, and more sadly still, UNC-Greensboro lost, but the Spartans are back this year and now they’re doing the hosting, while Syracuse didn’t even make the NIT. He who laughs last…
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: I spent a great day in Greensboro after the Roanoke Airport and United Airlines conspired to stop me from catching a 6 AM flight to Chicago last fall (fun fact: I got security called on me by a gate agent who was mad with power!). Had some tasty French toast at Scrambled Southern Diner, played a round of miniature golf at Celebration Station, got too sweaty playing mini golf and had to use the car’s air conditioning to blow-dry my shirt…great day.
Campbell
Visiting the Spartans are, from just a short drive southeast, the Fighting Camels of Campbell University, who make their NIT debut this year.
There are a seemingly infinite number of reasons to love the Camels. They’re nice to me on Twitter. They use the hashtag #RollHumps. They’re electric offensively, led by national scoring leader Chris Clemons, a 5’9” force of nature who will either crack an NBA roster, electrify the G-League, or make a great living in Europe starting later this year. I mean, they’re the Campbell Camels—what’s not to love?
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: I have expressed my adoration to the Camels on and off on Twitter over the last year-plus, and every now and then someone within their basketball program gives my tweets attention.
Davidson
After narrowly missing out on last year’s NIT field, the Davidson Memories of Steph Curry made their fans’ dreams come true this past week, threading the needle to grab an at-large bid by losing handily to Saint Louis in the A-10 semifinals.
Led by Jon Axel Gudmundsson, Davidson’s collection of players with fun names is noteworthy. There’s Gudmundsson, but then there’s also Luka Brajkovic, and there’s Luke Frampton, and KiShawn Pritchett, and Dusan Kovacevic, and David Czerapowicz, and Bates Jones. Truly a stacked roster in the “I can say these in a fun way” department.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: Nothing major, but for some reason I thought Davidson was in Tennessee for a long time. Then, assuming it was in the mountains (again, unclear why), I thought it was over by Asheville. Turns out it’s north of Charlotte. Either someone is moving Davidson or my brain is very bad at locating small liberal arts schools with rich basketball history.
Lipscomb
Our first non-North Carolina team in the mix, Lipscomb hails from Nashville, Tennessee. If you hadn’t heard of them before this year, that’s understandable. This is only their second-ever NIT appearance, and they’ll be looking for their first NIT victory when they go to Davidson.
Lipscomb deserves our praise for confounding journalists by being named the Bisons, rather than the Bison, which is the “grammatically correct” version of Bison according to people who believe they can decide what is and isn’t correct in language.
Show ‘em, Bisons.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: Really don’t have anything on this one. This section made a lot more sense when I was talking about Greensboro.
Georgetown
Georgetown, for all their success, is one of the most historically overrated programs of the 1980’s. They didn’t make a single NIT that decade! Wild how the NCAA has propagated the myth that Georgetown was good back then. Can’t believe everything you see on TV.
Georgetown has made two NIT championship games in their history, the last coming in 2003 when they lost to the greatest NIT program of all time, St. John’s. They’ve got their eyes on the championship, but as anyone who’s ascended that summit would (I assume) tell you, it’s a long and arduous road.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: Back when I had a big boy job, I was visiting Stuart in D.C., and I spent a great day working from coffeeshops while making my way back from Rosslyn through Georgetown to Adams-Morgan. The Key Bridge gives you a beautiful view if you’re ever looking for a good walk in that area.
Harvard
After a hard-fought first-round loss to Marquette in 2018, Harvard is back again this year, doing their part in cementing the NIT as the strongest postseason tournament academically.
They’ll be visiting Georgetown for a good old-fashioned nerd fight. Can’t wait.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: I went to Harvard. But only because I was staying with some Harvard peeps when the Cubs played at Fenway in 2017.
North Carolina State
Continuing this bracket’s Old North State flavor, the Wolfpack are back in the NIT for the first time since 2010. They’ve never won an NIT, but they’ve made the Final Four four times, most recently in 2000, when they lost to arguably the greatest coach in NIT history, Dave Odom (who was at Wake Forest at the time).
To make it back there this year, NC State will need to stop complaining about being in the NIT in the first place and appreciate that they’ve earned a chance to achieve basketball greatness. I respect that they don’t think they’re worthy of the NIT, but the powers that be have declared they are, and they need to take that as the vote of confidence it is.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: In 2017, I declared Kevin Keatts the 2018 version of 2017 Josh Pastner, meaning I thought he’d make some noise in the 2018 NIT. He didn’t.
Hofstra
In 2006, Hofstra looked to be on their way to the program’s first NIT Final Four appearance. Then, conference rival (at the time) Old Dominion came to town, kicked them around a bit, and sent the Pride packing.
Hailing from Nassau County, Hofstra could have a formidable home-crowd advantage were they to make this year’s Final Four. As NIT fans, we should all be hoping for Hofstra to make it, too, since they’d generate some NIT buzz, at least locally. But at the same time, it’s ok to still be upset with this school for changing their name from the Flying Dutchmen to the Pride back in 2000. Especially since it doesn’t sound like any dutchmen were even offended by it! And before you start thinking that maybe Pride is a progressive nickname, it’s about lions. And while lions are cool, there just aren’t enough colleges calling themselves the Flying Dutchmen and that’s because Hofstra stopped doing it.
*inaudible sound of exasperated disappointment*
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: Hofstra’s current president is a fellow Stuart.
Indiana
Nostalgia can be deceptive, but not so when remembering the greatness that was the 2017 NIT. Lest you’ve forgotten, in addition to the Boeheim/Syracuse feud, there was the drama of Indiana declining to host an NIT home game because Athletic Director Fred Glass didn’t want to “devalue” Assembly Hall.
Well, Director Glass (great nickname for a big man, by the way—feel free to use), here we are. And here you are hoping to host three home games, rather than just one. Funny how that works out.
While Indiana’s NIT glory days are long in the past (they won one back in 1979, and reached the championship in 1985), their coach, Archie Miller…oh wait…Dayton won it when Brian Gregory was still the coach.
Never mind.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: I sat next to a guy in an Indiana sweatshirt at church yesterday. Must have been an exciting day for him, getting a 1-seed and all.
St. Francis (PA)
There are so many St. Francises, as this blog has previously noted, but let us be clear that this is the Pennsylvania one.
In the NIT for the first time in 61 years, the Red Flash are looking to make their second NIT Final Four. They have long odds, but I mean, who knows what Indiana’s going to do, let alone the other 30 teams.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: I enjoy saying MAAC like a sheep, and…crap. St. Francis is in the NEC, not the MAAC. I knew that.
Well, my friend’s grandpa was a proud St. Francis (PA) alum.
Providence
The Friars have a thick NIT history, counting seven Final Four appearances and two championships among their accomplishments. While the trophies have grown dusty (they last made the Final Four in 1993, and their championships came in ’61 and ’63), there are reasons for the program to hope.
It’s a shame Ed Cooley ripped his pants and coached with a towel around his waist already, because that’s the kind of thing that gets weird the second time you do it, and it would have been amazing NIT content if he’d done it for the first time in the NIT.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: One of Stuart’s college roommates transferred over from Providence, where he’d been a basketball manager. He raves about Ed Cooley.
Arkansas
You guys know Arkansas. Come on, you know who they are. They’re the Razorbacks! Remember now? Good.
The Razorbacks are in the NIT this year.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: Have a couple friends who went there. Only a couple, though. Exactly two. Good people.
Furman
A program on the upswing, that’s what they’re saying about Furman. And they’re right! The Paladins are in the thick of the NIT mix.
A Paladin is a type of knight (I guess?) and most NIT games (the second round is the exception) are played at night, so don’t sleep on Furman, and that was not intended to be a night/sleep pun but here we are and that’s a bad pun/joke but I wrote it and we’re done here.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: Greenville, South Carolina is a good town.
Wichita State
One of the century’s most storied basketball programs, rising to prominence out on the prairie, the Shockers are in the NIT for the first time since winning it all in 2011. They presumably nearly missed out on the field, but an AAC quarterfinal win over Temple and the subsequent narrow loss to Cincinnati were evidently enough, coupled with those wins over Providence and Baylor and UCF.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: Spent the night in Wichita when I was moving down to Austin from Minneapolis a couple months ago. Nice town. Didn’t see much of it, but enjoyed Ziggy’s Pizza. Visibly a Shockers town.
Clemson
What a year it could be for Clemson. A national championship in football followed by an NIT championship? Not sure that’s ever been done, and even if it has, Clemson would at worst tie for the greatest year in combined college football/men’s basketball history.
Quite a bit to shoot for here.
Clemson was also a part of that fabled 2017 NIT, but they lost to Oakland in the first round. Still, when the Tigers have made the field these last two decades, they’ve often made noise: They lost by a point to Cal in the 1999 championship game, by five to West Virginia in the 2007 championship game, and by six to SMU in the 2014 Final Four.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: Had a Clemson tie that I was repurposing as a Crystal Lake Central tie in high school. I’ve lit it on fire a few times since, but celebratory fire—not angry fire.
Wright State
Wright State is located in Dayton, and if you didn’t realize it was named after the Wright Brothers until just now, you’re not alone—I only figured it out a couple days ago.
Because of this, I now want to call Wright State the Flyers, but that isn’t their name. They’re the Raiders, and their logo includes a dog? Huh.
If Wright State can get a home game at some point (extremely unlikely), we’ll get to see the Nutter Center loaded for action, but as was noted in the parenthetical, that’s extremely unlikely.
Still, we’re happy to have Wright State here. It’s their first NIT appearance, and we wish them all the best.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: I guess it’s only the Wright Brothers thing? Not really a personal tie but I at least was thinking about Wright State at some point in the last few days.
Alabama
We’ve passed the halfway point, and are now descending the right side of the bracket. Things are heating up. It’s a spicy world, NIT fans, and you just keep pouring on the hot sauce. You’re fearless, inspired, synergistic (don’t know what that one means but felt it fit here), and you wouldn’t be afraid to swallow a little bit of high-octane gasoline now and then, even though you know you shouldn’t (please don’t, I don’t want to be responsible for this).
Alabama introduces a whole lot of storylines into the field. Bama/Clemson rematch?? All-SEC Championship game against Arkansas?? Ok, so just two storylines, but the first one’s a good one.
The Crimson Tide are young and inconsistent, which translates to exciting in my pocket dictionary. Avery Johnson’s rumored to be on the hot seat, but if he can break through and bring Tuscaloosa its first NIT title, one has to assume all will be forgiven, right?
Can’t wait.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: While I lack a personal tie to the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, it’s fair to say that all college sports fans have been heavily impacted by the university’s football program over the past decade. They’ve been so good as to become a synonym with dominance, and their impact is felt across the landscape of collegiate athletics. Their brand is, as stated, dominance, and even with recent vulnerability to Clemson, you feel something when you hear the words “Crimson Tide.” In that, we’re all connected.
Norfolk State
Norfolk. The forgotten city.
No, but really, did you know that the Norfolk/Virginia Beach/Newport News metro area (also called Hampton Roads, which is a dope name) has a larger population than that of Milwaukee, Jacksonville, Oklahoma City, Memphis, Louisville, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Honolulu, Albuquerque, Omaha, and some other places we think of as cities? Norfolk is a city! It has a skyline and a light rail!
They also have an HBCU (possibly more than one, if you’re scoring at home), which has a basketball team, which won the MEAC regular season title this year and is making its second NIT appearance. Exciting times, to be sure.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: None. But HBCU’s are something I should learn more about because they’re an extremely important piece of our nation and its history in higher education.
Colorado
Boulder is trendy these days, and the Buffaloes are especially trendy, because the Buffaloes in the NIT.
The Pac-12’s lone representative, Colorado is our only hope for a Bill Walton game, and should be treated as such.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: Nothing, but the Colorado basketball program has a colorfully written Wikipedia page, featuring references to a historic figure named Frosty Cox.
Dayton
The city of Dayton is contributing one sixteenth of this year’s NIT field, which is laudable. What a city.
Dayton, as we’ve mentioned, has won an NIT. They’ve actually won three, which places them among the all-time leaders, and they’ve made the championship a staggering eight times.
A traditional power is in the building, everybody.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: I’ve been following a Twitter account devoted to bringing an XFL team to Dayton for the last few weeks, and let me make it urgently clear that I support their mission.
Xavier
Add Xavier to the list of teams who have won an NIT, because they beat Dayton in the 1958 championship.
While their success has been limited since then (this is their first NIT appearance since 2000), their basketball profile has actually grown over the last twenty years. Funny how that works.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: I’m pretty sure my brother named a lot of players (in MVP 2004) and amusement park guests (in one of the Roller Coaster Tycoon games) Xavier, and was bothered when people were pronouncing it Exavier. ALSO is Javier the Spanish version of Xavier? Because if so, Javy Baez is in the NIT and I couldn’t be more thrilled.
Toledo
Toledo Tolado.
The Rockets scored 27 points in the 1943 NIT championship, and I think I speak for all of us who would love to see that happen again. They don’t even have to lose this time. In fact, it’d be more exciting if they won.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: Toledo is on the way to and from Findlay if you’re coming from the Upper Midwest. Let that sink in for a minute.
Texas
My neighborhood’s NIT entrant (ok, not my neighborhood, but walking distance!) is in because, as Joe Stunardi texted me last night, “evidently the selection committee wants to incentivize teams to schedule enough cupcakes to ensure they end up over .500, fan interest be damned.”
Wow.
Well, I for one am happy the committee Joe’s referencing passed on the Longhorns, because it means NIT action in Austin. Get ready for me, Frank Erwin Center.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: Lives a 0.9 mile walk from the Frank Erwin Center.
South Dakota State
Mike Daum!
The Midwest’s closest thing to Chris Clemons is ninth all time on the Division I men’s basketball career points list entering NIT play, and could conceivably climb to join fellow Missouri valley native Doug McDermott in the top seven with a big night against Texas (in case you’re wondering, Clemons is in fourth, with two guys possibly in reach during the tournament and Pete Maravich well ahead of him).
The Jackrabbits are named the Jackrabbits, which is also fun.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: I’m pretty sure my second cousin attends South Dakota State.
TCU
From Wikipedia:
Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private Christian-based, coeducational university in Fort Worth, Texas, established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College.
AddRan Male & Female College.
I’m impressed.
TCU won the fabled 2017 NIT. Jamie Dixon (remember that guy?) coaches there. Pretty good NIT pedigree.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: We share a state.
Sam Houston State
This is the first NIT appearance for the Bearkats, who have the distinction of being one of the few Division I teams (if not the only one) spelling their name like a middle schooler trying to be cool.
I don’t know much more than that, to be honest.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: While certainly a flawed figure, certain events in the life of Sam Houston (namesake of Sam Houston State University) contribute to a glowing characterization of him that is not entirely undeserved. Houston lived for three years with the Cherokee tribe during his adolescence, and advocated for Native American rights as a United States Senator. He commanded the troops who routed Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto, the decisive conflict in the Mexican-American War. He was kicked out as Texas’ governor in 1861 when he refused to swear allegiance to the Confederacy. Perhaps the most significant individual figure in Texan history, Sam Houston was, as stated, flawed, but his significance is underrepresented nationally, which is surprising given how compelling his life is as a story.
Nebraska
How times have changed.
Last year, this blogger was sour on the Cornhuskers, who complained loudly about their seeding before quietly losing in the first round (in fairness, seedings should, and often do, have more to do with a team’s résumé than their ability, so Nebraska’s loss to Mississippi State last year doesn’t necessarily mean they were fairly seeded).
This year, we love Nebraska. Tim Miles is, according to about three anecdotal pieces of evidence, a great man who deserves to keep his job as the Huskers have navigated a brutal share of injuries. Also, in case you haven’t heard, Nebraska (along with South Dakota, Iowa, and Missouri) is at this very moment suffering the most extreme flooding the state has experienced in recorded history. Three lives have already been lost, and entire towns have been turned into islands.
Give the people an emotional run, Nebraska.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: Nothing, really. Know some good people from the state, but no significant ties.
Butler
Butler seems like a team that would have won an NIT by now, but I guess they’ve never even made the Final Four. The more you know.
Maybe this is the year. They aren’t necessarily a bad team. They just haven’t beaten many good teams, unless you count middling SEC foes Mississippi and Florida as good teams, in which case they’ve only beaten two good teams.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: Watched Hoosiers quite a few times growing up.
Memphis
Conventional wisdom states Memphis could make some noise this year.
They had a great two-year NIT stretch in 2001-02, winning one title and finishing third once. Perhaps this is the year they return to glory. Who knows, given the NIT’s status as a legendary anything-can-happen tournament.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: Nothing. But hey, these haven’t gone off the rails like I thought they were going to back around Lipscomb.
San Diego
A surprise entry into the field, the Toreros are competing in their first NIT. What a buzz!
For some reason last fall, I started saying San Diego was going to make the NIT Final Four. I was also saying that (more loudly) about Maryland, though, and I think I threw UCF in there, so don’t expect me to dig up any clips. Just staking my claim.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: I follow their basketball program’s Twitter account, but I don’t think I’ve ever interacted with it.
Creighton
Pretty good team, these Bluejays. Not too old, either.
I’d say “exciting times in Omaha” right now, but they really are, and not in a good way, because of that flooding I mentioned. If you want to help out, visit unitedwaymidlands.org/floodrelief. This is just one place you can donate to help those suffering now and recovering over the months and years to come.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: Not a lot.
Loyola
After a nice little run to the Final Four of some other tournament last year, Loyola is stepping it up a notch in 2019. Can they compete when the stakes are the greatest? We’ll see. Hopefully it works out well, though, because Sister Jean + the NIT would be good for the NIT.
NIT Stu’s Personal Tie: Had some high school friends go there.
That’s it for this comprehensive NIT preview. Tune in as the tournament progresses for more NIT content. You can follow along here, on Twitter (@nit_stu), and by watching the games. Also, we’ve got a bracket pool if you’re interested—anyone can enter!
Enjoy, and Happy NIT.
