The 2026 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) was a single-elimination tournament of thirty-two NCAA Division I men's college basketball teams not selected to participate in the 2026 NCAA tournament. The tournament commenced on March 17 and concluded on April 5. The first three rounds were played on campus sites, with the semifinal round played at Hinkle Fieldhouse and the final played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, both in Indianapolis, Indiana.

St. Thomas made their first ever NCAA Division I men's basketball postseason appearance in the NIT; it was also Seattle's first NIT appearance since 1957 and Navy's first since 1962.

The Auburn University Tigers defeated the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane, 92–86 in overtime, to claim the championship. The All-Tournament Team was composed of David Green (Tulsa), Keyshawn Hall (Auburn), Kevin Overton (Auburn), Tahaad Pettiford (Auburn) and Tylen Riley (Tulsa); Overton was also selected the Most Outstanding Player.

Participants Teams and pairings for the 2026 NIT were released by the NIT Committee on March 15, 2026. Thirty-two teams qualified for the NIT, including exempt qualifiers, automatic qualifiers, and at-large selections.

Non-NCAA tournament teams from the Big East, Big Ten and Big 12 conferences are contractually prohibited from playing in any other postseason tournament, including the NIT, if they decline an invitation or remove themselves from consideration for a bid to the College Basketball Crown.

Exempt qualifiers For the 2026 NIT, exempt bids were extended to two teams from the Atlantic Coast (ACC) and Southeastern (SEC) conferences, plus one team from each of the top twelve conferences as rated by the Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings (KenPom) on the morning of March 15, 2026. Exempt qualifiers are seeded and guaranteed the opportunity to host a first-round game, subject to venue availability. The KenPom conference ratings used to determine exempt qualifier status were as follows: RankConferencePomeroyrating 1 Southeastern Conference+19.55 2 Big Ten Conference+18.27 3 Big 12 Conference+18.21 4 Atlantic Coast Conference+15.17 5 Big East Conference+13.53 6 Mountain West Conference+9.31 7 Atlantic 10 Conference+4.71 8 West Coast Conference+4.04 9 Missouri Valley Conference+3.34 10 American Conference+1.40 11 Big West Conference-0.67 12 Western Athletic Conference-0.80 13 Conference USA-1.92 14 Ivy League-2.20 15 Big Sky Conference-2.29 16 Coastal Athletic Association-2.55 17 Mid-American Conference-3.01 18 Southland Conference-4.14 19 Horizon League-4.68 20 Sun Belt Conference-5.87 21 Summit League-7.10 22 Big South Conference-7.36 23 Southern Conference-8.25 24 Atlantic Sun Conference-8.72 25 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference-9.87 26 Ohio Valley Conference-10.99 27 Patriot League-11.47 28 Southwestern Athletic Conference-14.07 29 Northeast Conference-14.59 30 America East Conference-16.56 31 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference-20.95 The teams accepting exempt bids are shown below. No schools from the Big East or Big Ten accepted invitations. Only two of the ACC's and one of the SEC's three exempt bids were accepted, creating five additional at-large berths. TeamConferenceOverallrecordSeedAppearanceLastbidTulsaAmerican111th2015CaliforniaACC210th2017Wake ForestACC19th2024DaytonA–10229th2025UC IrvineBig West410th2025Oklahoma StateBig 12215th2025Illinois StateMVC415th2017New MexicoMWC121st2023AuburnSEC17th2009SeattleWCC43rd1957Utah ValleyWAC44th2025

The final KNIT (average of Bart Torvik "T-Rank" Ranking (BTR), ESPN Basketball Power Index (BPI), Ken Pomeroy Rating (KPR), Kevin Pauga Index (KPI), NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), Strength of Record (SOR) ranking, and Wins Above Bubble (WAB) ranking) scores of non-NCAA tournament teams from conferences that earned exempt bids through the close of play on March 14, 2026, the morning of (Selection Sunday), are summarized in the tables below. Teams in bold accepted a bid; teams in italics were extended an automatic bid but rejected it. Some Big East, Big Ten, and Big 12 teams were contractually obligated to decline.

+Atlantic Coast ConferenceTeamKNITBTRBPIKPRKPINETSORWABVirginia Tech5653665548555559Stanford6059755744616361Florida State6250695664626667California6668807457685756Wake Forest6967617368677278Syracuse8682788388869395Notre Dame9897888910094106112Pittsburgh1091029494107104120141Boston College166139153155181158172207Georgia Tech169160136162184169172200 +Southeastern ConferenceTeamKNITBTRBPIKPRKPINETSORWABAuburn4041283846384345Oklahoma4840414067484753Ole Miss7564516594827894LSU79695360114788393Mississippi State102988110011911292111South Carolina1091009295146108100122 +American ConferenceTeamKNITBTRBPIKPRKPINETSORWABTulsa6265686361526265Wichita State8084848271747983UAB118137104128101118113124Florida Atlantic132123120129128123136162North Texas133141121136122137134143Memphis143133103134142134157197Temple171143132165182167193212Charlotte181172187183169173172211Tulane185201194212141207155182Rice222211198226234243193246East Carolina250259255254244267193280UTSA314336318340320344193347 +Atlantic 10 ConferenceTeamKNITBTRBPIKPRKPINETSORWABDayton6478647743695464George Mason87118859659927581Saint Joseph's10399119118841218790George Washington10483738511791130150Davidson112106110114110115110117Duquesne129121128127115133129148Rhode Island146151115135123151156192St. Bonaventure152154124139127143167208Richmond175168138160175165193227Fordham176177163166187174172193La Salle231216223233209246193295Loyola Chicago262275241280249278193315 +Big East ConferenceTeamKNITBTRBPIKPRKPINETSORWABSeton Hall5460545160534850Creighton8085627885838089Butler8172658789848291Providence82745972978194100Georgetown8679718092909097Xavier97949797104979198DePaul1011019910210910295102Marquette10276768412593116144 +Big Ten ConferenceTeamKNITBTRBPIKPRKPINETSORWABIndiana4734384569415051Washington6552505390577779USC6966678170796062Northwestern74635858106668485Minnesota8058707998808888Oregon106908999118109109125Maryland117.611398120143138101110Rutgers118.011710912413413599108Penn State137140127138149141125140 +Big West ConferenceTeamKNITBTRBPIKPRKPINETSORWABUC Irvine113108111104102117132119UC San Diego124122142117116124131118UC Santa Barbara155127147130165142193183Cal State Northridge172.7167195175153188171160UC Davis172.9164205158160178180165Cal State Fullerton186193222168157177193189Cal Poly227217267211228225193249Long Beach State254239278231269257193313UC Riverside260248280258264273193306Cal State Bakersfield308324329326315330193342 +Big 12 ConferenceTeamKNITBTRBPIKPRKPINETSORWABCincinnati5232434456496870Baylor5847454876507072West Virginia6162475965596968Oklahoma State6475746647755358Arizona State6761906758735963Colorado7677917072777375Kansas State10610387101112100107132Utah136115107126145132151175 +Missouri Valley ConferenceTeamKNITBTRBPIKPRKPINETSORWABBelmont6781966945636155Illinois State1031101001038695115115Murray State11413512312293105108109Bradley11713411612395113119120UIC127111117105120110153171Southern Illinois143129126116126120188195Valparaiso161163177157162156150161Drake207215184197189199193274Indiana State223205215201242213193291Evansville288302307308260306193339 +Mountain West ConferenceTeamKNITBTRBPIKPRKPINETSORWABSan Diego State4844564740475647New Mexico5354555049466452Boise State6556796155607471Grand Canyon7255726275718582Nevada7480837562707669Colorado State8488868674878980Wyoming105951189810399114106UNLV10810910510882111118121Fresno State165131155132176153193213San Jose State231214233225224244193282Air Force320343355345297350193356 +West Coast ConferenceTeamKNITBTRBPIKPRKPINETSORWABSeattle120104129119139122121107Pacific127.6107130112154116140134San Francisco128.1124106121152119138137Oregon State158162171177130170147147Washington State171125164137202145193230Loyola Marymount178147149161206179193210Portland214188272202203222193217San Diego233213234224261234193271Pepperdine265254287264284274193301 +Western Athletic ConferenceTeamKNITBTRBPIKPRKPINETSORWABUtah Valley89871139078859676UT Arlington168182197153147161182156Utah Tech182183238188151176182157Tarleton229225269221220230193242Abilene Christian242255274242230248193255Southern Utah263262293251256272193312

Automatic qualifiers Automatic bids are given to regular-season conference champions with an average ranking (or "KNIT" score) of 125 or better across the BTR, BPI, KPR, KPI, NET, SOR and WAB rankings.

The final KNIT scores through the close of play on March 14, 2026 (the morning of Selection Sunday), of teams that were conference regular-season champions, failed to win their conference tournament and are not from conferences receiving an exempt bid are summarized in the table below.

TeamConferenceKNITBTRBPIKPRKPINETSORWABCentral ArkansasASUN157144190151178166137131Portland StateBig Sky160158192146205146149127UNC WilmingtonCAA9712610811080968177LibertyCUSA96120101125731067173YaleIvy7191957654655857MerrimackMAAC156170188179111180133129Miami (OH) MAC6486939353642534NavyPatriot13614814114219013610392East Tennessee StateSoCon155196143167148139144145Stephen F. AustinSouthland888911491105896560Bethune–CookmanSWAC227224246243253261193167 Teams qualifying for and accepting automatic bids were as follows: TeamConferenceOverallrecordSeedAppearanceLastbidLibertyCUSA – 2nd 2023Stephen F. AustinSouthland – 4th 2013UNC WilmingtonCAA – 3rd 2001YaleIvy 3 3rd 2023

At-large bids After eleven of the sixteen available exempt bids were accepted, and four teams qualified for and accepted automatic bids, seventeen at-large bids were available to fill the 32-team field. The following teams accepted at-large bids.

TeamConferenceOverallrecordSeedAppearanceLastbid Bradley MVC – 25th 2025 Colorado State MWC 3 11th 2021 Davidson Atlantic 10 – 10th 2021 George Mason Atlantic 10 3 6th 2025 George Washington Atlantic 10 – 7th 2016 Kent State MAC – 11th 2025 Murray State MVC – 9th 2015 Navy Patriot – 2nd 1962 Nevada MWC 2 6th 2012 Saint Joseph's Atlantic 10 – 19th 2025 Sam Houston CUSA – 3rd 2023 South Alabama Sun Belt – 5th 2007 St. Thomas Summit – 1st – UIC MVC – 2nd 2003 UNLV MWC – 12th 2024 Wichita State American 3 15th 2025 Wyoming MWC – 9th 2003

Declined bids Teams contractually obligated to decline Teams from the Big East, Big Ten and Big 12 conferences that either preemptively declined an opportunity or were offered a bid to play in the 2026 College Basketball Crown were contractually forbidden from participating in the NIT.

Baylor † Butler Cincinnati Creighton † DePaul Georgetown Indiana Marquette Minnesota † Northwestern Oklahoma † Oregon Providence Rutgers † Seton Hall Stanford † USC Washington West Virginia † Xavier

† Participating in 2026 College Basketball Crown.

Other teams declined

Belmont Florida State San Diego State Virginia Tech

Bracket As only 11 exempt qualifiers accepted bids, five automatic/at-large teams were additionally seeded to complete the 32-team bracket. Nevada was awarded a number two seed, while Colorado State, George Mason, Wichita State and Yale were assigned number three seeds.

Auburn Region

Winston-Salem Region

Notes

Albuquerque Region

Tulsa Region

Semifinals and Final

Notes

Game summaries All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

First round

Second round

Quarterfinal round

Semifinal round

Final round

Media ESPN, Inc. has exclusive rights to all of the NIT games. It telecasts every game across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPN+. Westwood One has exclusive radio rights to both the semifinal and final rounds.

See also 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 2026 College Basketball Crown

References