Monday, March 16, 2009

2009 Mens NIT Basketball Tournament

By Robert H. Kelly
Copyright 2009 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (March 16, 2009) The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) begins tomorrow. It is made up of 32 teams who did not make it to the NCAA tournament.

The field for the 2009 National Invitation Tournament was announced Sunday night, on ESPNU. The announcement was made by CM Newton, chair of the NIT Selection Committee. The Committee has been meeting in Indianapolis over the weekend.

First round action for the NIT, which was founded in 1938, kicks off on March 17 and 18; second round takes place on March 19, 20, 21 and 23, with the quarterfinals tipping on March 24 and 25.

The tournament goes to New York's Madison Square Garden for the semi-final doubleheader on March 31 with the championship game on April 2.

I will be following the NIT games right along with my NCAA men's coverage. I will post all predictions and stores on this site, as I will not have a separate site for the NIT, unlike our coverage of the NCAAs.

Below is my predictions of the first round action. I will post my predictions and views for the second round once all games are complete.

March 17, 2009 Games
San Diego State over Weber State
South Carolina over Davidson
St. Mary's (CA) over Washington State
UNLV over Kentucky
New Mexico over Nebraska
Notre Dame over UAB
Rhode Island over Niagara
Penn State over George Mason

March 18, 2009 Games

Kansas State over Illinois State
Auburn over Tennessee-Martin
Northwestern over Tulsa
Baylor over Georgetown
Duquesne over Virgina Tech
Creighton over Bowling Green
Florida over Jacksonville
Providence over Miami, Fla.

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