| Season | 1953–54 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 12 | ||||
| Finals site | Madison Square Garden, New York City | ||||
| Champions | Holy Cross Crusaders (1st title) | ||||
| Runner-up | Duquesne Dukes (2nd title game) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| Winning coach | Lester Sheary (1st title) | ||||
| MVP | Togo Palazzi (Holy Cross) | ||||
| |||||
The 1954 National Invitation Tournament was the 1954 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition.
Below is a list of the 12 teams selected for the tournament. [1] There were 4 seeded teams, which received a bye in the first round, (1) Duquesne, (2) Western Kentucky, (3) Holy Cross, and (4) Niagara. [2]
| Participants | Seed |
|---|---|
| Duquesne | 1 |
| Western Kentucky State | 2 |
| Holy Cross | 3 |
| Niagara | 4 |
| Bowling Green | |
| BYU | |
| Dayton | |
| Louisville | |
| Manhattan | |
| St. Francis (NY) | |
| Saint Francis (PA) | |
| Wichita State |
Below is the tournament bracket. [1]
| First round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||||||
| Bowling Green | 88 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wichita State | 64 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling Green | 81 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Western Kentucky | 95 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Western Kentucky | 69 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Holy Cross | 75 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Holy Cross | 93 | |||||||||||||||||
| St. Francis (NY) | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||
| St. Francis (NY) | 60 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Louisville | 55 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Holy Cross | 71 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Duquesne | 62 | |||||||||||||||||
| Saint Francis (PA) | 81 | ||||||||||||||||||
| BYU | 68 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Saint Francis (PA) | 63 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Duquesne | 69 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Duquesne | 66 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Niagara | 51 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Niagara | 77 | |||||||||||||||||
| Dayton | 74 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dayton | 90 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Manhattan | 79 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Third place game | ||||
| 2 | Western Kentucky | 66 | ||
| 4 | Niagara | 71 | ||