National Invitational Tournament shrinks field from 32 to 24 teams as NCAA Tournament expansion looms

The men's National Invitational Tournament will be shrinking from 32 teams to 24 starting in 2027, the NCAA announced on Thursday. The new-look format will see the NIT championship game hosted at Detroit Mercy in Detroit — the site of the 2027 Final Four — on April 4.

The NIT field has been set at 32 teams since 2006, when the bracket shrank from 40 back to the format that started in 1980. Due to the NCAA Tournament expanding from 68 to 76 teams starting this season — and multiple programs opting out of the NIT entirely over the last several years — the NIT reducing its field seemed inevitable.

Only four power conference programs competed in the 2026 NIT: Auburn, Cal, Wake Forest and Oklahoma State. Other Power Five programs, such as Seton Hall, Virginia Tech, Belmont, and San Diego State, declined NIT invitations after missing the NCAA Tournament. The season before, Indiana, South Carolina and Wake Forest were among the power conference teams that declined an invite.

How the NIT field is selected will also be different starting next year. Rather than the top 12 conferences receiving exempt bids as in previous iterations of the NIT, exempt bids…

Original source: https://www.cbssports.com/