2002 National Invitation Tournament

2002 National Invitation Tournament

Season	2001–02
Teams	40
Finals site	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Champions	Memphis Tigers (1st title)
Runner-up	South Carolina Gamecocks (1st title game)
Semifinalists	Temple Owls (4th semifinal) Syracuse Orangemen (2nd semifinal)
Winning coach	John Calipari (1st title)
MVP	Dajuan Wagner (Memphis)
National Invitation Tournaments « 2001 2003 »

The 2002 National Invitation Tournament was the 2002 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition.

Selected teams

Below is a list of the 40 teams selected for the tournament. ^[1]

School	Conference	Record	Appearance	Last bid
Arizona State	Pac-10	14–14	8th	2000
Ball State	MAC	20–11	4th	1998
Bowling Green	MAC	24–8	13th	2000
Butler	Horizon	25–5	7th	1999
BYU	Mountain West	17–11	9th	2000
Dayton	Atlantic 10	20–10	20th	2001
Detroit	Horizon	18–12	8th	1999
Fresno State	WAC	19–14	6th	2001
George Mason	Colonial	19–9	2nd	1986
Georgia State	A-Sun	20–10	1st	Never
Houston	C-USA	18–14	7th	1993
Iowa	Big Ten	19–15	3rd	1998
Louisiana-Lafayette	Sun Belt	20–10	4th	1985
Louisiana Tech	WAC	20–9	5th	1992
Louisville	C-USA	18–12	13th	1985
LSU	SEC	18–14	4th	1983
Manhattan	MAAC	20–8	17th	1996
Memphis	C-USA	22–9	15th	2001
Minnesota	Big Ten	17–12	10th	2001
Montana State	Big Sky	19–9	2nd	1987
New Mexico	Mountain West	16–13	16th	2001
Princeton	Ivy	16–11	5th	2000
Richmond	Atlantic 10	19–13	6th	2001
Rutgers	Big East	18–12	12th	2000
Saint Joseph's	Atlantic 10	18–11	7th	1996
South Carolina	SEC	18–14	8th	2001
South Florida	C-USA	19–12	7th	2000
St. Bonaventure	Atlantic 10	17–12	15th	2001
Syracuse	Big East	20–11	10th	1997
Temple	Atlantic 10	15–14	13th	1989
Tennessee Tech	Ohio Valley	24–6	2nd	1985
UC Irvine	Big West	21–10	4th	2001
UNC Greensboro	Southern	20–10	1st	Never
UNLV	Mountain West	20–10	6th	1999
Utah State	Big West	23–7	6th	1995
Vanderbilt	SEC	16–14	9th	2000
Villanova	Big East	17–12	15th	2001
Virginia	ACC	17–11	9th	2000
Wagner	Northeast	19–9	2nd	1979
Yale	Ivy	20–10	1st	Never

Georgetown declines invitation

Big East Conference member Georgetown originally was among the teams selected, but declined to take part. Hoyas head coach Craig Esherick explained that Georgetown's home court, the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., was booked to host the East Regional of the 2002 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, meaning that accepting the NIT invitation would have required the Hoyas to play on the road in the West for two weeks, forcing his players to miss many of their classes. After playing a similar schedule the previous season during the 2001 NCAA tournament, Esherick had concluded that missing so many classes to play in the NIT, a tournament which did not offer a chance for a national championship, was not in the best interest of Georgetown's players. ^[2]

Esherick's controversial decision meant that Georgetown had no postseason play for the first time since the 1973–74 season. Georgetown became the first team to turn down an NIT bid since Louisville turned down a bid to the 1987 NIT. ^[3]

Bracket

Below are the four first-round brackets, along with the four-team championship bracket. ^[1]

	Opening Round					First Round					Second Round					Quarterfinals
							Syracuse	76
							St. Bonaventure	66
												Syracuse	66
												Butler	65
							Butler	81
							Bowling Green	69
																	Syracuse	62
																	Richmond	46
							Minnesota	96
							New Mexico	62
												Minnesota	66
												Richmond	67
		Richmond	74
		Wagner	67
							Richmond	63
							Montana State	48
		Montana State	77
		Utah State	69

	Opening Round					First Round					Second Round					Quarterfinals
		Ball State	98
		South Florida	92
							Ball State	75
							Saint Joseph's	65
		Saint Joseph's	73
		George Mason	64
												Ball State	75
												LSU	65
							LSU	63
							Iowa	61
																	Ball State	47
																	South Carolina	82
							UNLV	96
							Arizona State	91
												UNLV	65
												South Carolina	75
							South Carolina	74
							Virginia	67

	Opening Round					First Round					Second Round					Quarterfinals
							Temple	81
							Fresno State	75
												Temple	65
												Louisville	62
							Louisville	66
							Princeton	65
																	Temple	63
																	Villanova	57
							Villanova	84
							Manhattan	69
												Villanova	67
												Louisiana Tech	64
		Louisiana Tech	83
		Louisiana–Lafayette	63
							Louisiana Tech	83
							Vanderbilt	68
		Vanderbilt	59
		Houston	50

	Opening Round					First Round					Second Round					Quarterfinals
		Tennessee Tech	64
		Georgia State	62
							Tennessee Tech	68
							Dayton	59
		Dayton	80
		Detroit	69
												Tennessee Tech	80
												Yale	61
							Yale	67
							Rutgers	65
																	Tennessee Tech	73
																	Memphis	79
							BYU	78
							UC Irvine	55
												BYU	69
												Memphis	80
							Memphis	82
							UNC Greensboro	62

Semifinals & finals

	Semifinals					Finals
	Syracuse		59
	South Carolina		66
						South Carolina		62
						Memphis		72
	Temple		77
	Memphis		78

	Third place game
	Syracuse		54
	Temple		65

See also

• 2002 Women's National Invitation Tournament
• 2002 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 2002 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 2002 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
• 2002 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 2002 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 2002 NAIA Division II men's basketball tournament

References

1. Tournament Results (2000's) at nit.org, URL accessed November 5, 2009. Archived 11/5/09
2. Horn, David, "Georgetown's Esherick the Class Act of March," The Michigan Daily, March 13, 2002.
3. Associated Press, "Georgetown Declines NIT Bid," The Daily Utah Chronicle, March 12, 2002. Archived February 3, 2017, at the Wayback Machine