The 2012 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2012 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament began on March 13 on campus sites and ended on March 29 at Madison Square Garden. Stanford defeated Minnesota in the final game, by a score of 75–51 to become NIT champions for second time (first since 1991).
Participants
Automatic qualifiers The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2012 NIT field by virtue of winning their conferences' regular season championship but failing to win their conference tournament. These teams also did not receive an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament. TeamConferenceRecordAppearanceLast bidAkronMAC22–115th2008BucknellPatriot League24–91stNeverDrexelColonial27–67th2007Middle TennesseeSun Belt25–63rd1988NevadaWAC26–65th2010Oral RobertsSummit27–68th2005Savannah StateMEAC21–111stNeverStony BrookAmerica East22–92nd2010Texas–ArlingtonSouthland24–82nd1981ValparaisoHorizon22–112nd2003
Seeds +Washington Bracket SeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type1WashingtonPac-1221–10At-large2DaytonAtlantic 1020–12At-large3OregonPac-1222–9At-large4NorthwesternBig Ten18–13At-large5AkronMAC22–11Automatic6LSUSEC18–14At-large7IowaBig Ten17–16At-large8UT-ArlingtonSouthland24–8Automatic+Tennessee BracketSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type1 TennesseeSEC18–14At-large2Miami (FL)ACC19–12At-large3La SalleAtlantic 1021–12At-large4Middle TennesseeSun Belt25–6Automatic5MarshallConference USA21–13At-large6MinnesotaBig Ten19–14At-large7ValparaisoHorizon22–11Automatic8Savannah StateMEAC21–11Automatic+Seton Hall BracketSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type1Seton HallBig East20–12At-large2Saint Joseph'sAtlantic 1020–13At-large3DrexelColonial27–6Automatic4Mississippi StateSEC21–11At-large5UMassAtlantic 1022–11At-large6UCFConference USA22–10At-large7Northern IowaMissouri Valley19–13At-large8Stony BrookAmerica East22–9Automatic+Arizona BracketSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type1ArizonaPac-1223–11At-large2 MississippiSEC20–13At-large3 StanfordPac-1221–11At-large4 Oral RobertsSummit27–6Automatic5 NevadaWAC26–6Automatic6 Cleveland StateHorizon22–10At-large7 Illinois StateMissouri Valley20–13At-large8BucknellPatriot24–9Automatic
Bracket Played on the home court of the higher-seeded team except #7 seed Iowa hosts #2 seed Dayton since Dayton is the host of the NCAA First Four and cannot host a first-round NIT game.
Semifinals and final Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 27 and March 29
See also 2012 Women's National Invitation Tournament 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 2012 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament 2012 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament 2012 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament 2012 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament 2012 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament 2012 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament 2012 NAIA Division II men's basketball tournament 2012 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament 2012 NAIA Division II women's basketball tournament 2012 College Basketball Invitational 2012 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament
References