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The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The tournament is played at regional sites with its Final Four played at Madison Square Garden (MSG) in New York City up until 2022. Starting in 2023, the NIT Final Four began following the format of the NCAA Tournament by having its Final Four at different venues each season. First held in 1938, the NIT was once considered the most prestigious post-season showcase for college basketball before its status was superseded in the mid-1950s by the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
The Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) is a women's national college basketball tournament with a preseason and postseason version played every year. It is operated in a similar fashion to the men's college National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and NIT Season Tip-Off. Unlike the NIT, the women's tournament is not run by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), but is an independent tournament. Triple Crown Sports, a company based in Fort Collins, Colorado that specializes in the promotion of amateur sporting events, created the WNIT in 1994 as a preseason counterpart to the then-current National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT). After the NWIT folded in 1996, Triple Crown Sports resurrected the postseason version in 1998 under the NWIT name, but changed the following season to the current name.
The 2007 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) was a single-elimination tournament of 48 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that did not participate in the 2007 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament.
The 2010 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) was a single-elimination tournament of 64 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that did not participate in the 2010 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. The tournament is played entirely on campus sites. The highest ranked team in each conference that did not receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament received an automatic bid to this tournament. The remaining slots were filled by the WNIT Selection Committee.
The 2011 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) was a single-elimination tournament of 64 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2011 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. The tournament was played entirely on campus sites. The highest-ranked team in each conference that did not receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament received an automatic bid to this tournament. The remaining slots were filled by the WNIT Selection Committee. In the championship game, the Toledo Rockets defeated the USC Trojans, 76–68, before a sellout crowd of 7,301 at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio. The tournament MVP, Naama Shafir, scored a career-high 40 points to lead the Rockets.
The 2012 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) was a single-elimination tournament of 64 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that did not participate in the 2012 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. The tournament were played entirely on campus sites. The highest ranked team in each conference that did not receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament received an automatic bid to this tournament. The remaining slots were filled by the WNIT Selection Committee. The Oklahoma State Cowgirls won their first WNIT title, defeating the James Madison Dukes in the championship game, 75–68. Toni Young of Oklahoma State was named tournament MVP.
The 2013 Women's National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2013 Women's NCAA tournament. The annual tournament began on March 20 and ends on April 6. All games were played on the campus sites of participating schools. It was won by the Drexel Dragons.
The 2014 Women's National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2014 Women's NCAA tournament. The annual tournament began on March 19 and ended on April 5. All games were played on the campus sites of participating schools. The Tournament was won by the Rutgers Scarlet Knights who defeated the UTEP Miners, 56–54, in the championship game before a sellout crowd of 12,222 at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.
The 2015 Women's National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2015 Women's NCAA tournament. The annual tournament began on March 18 and ended on April 4, with the championship game televised on CBS Sports Network. All games were played on the campus sites of participating schools. The Tournament was won by the UCLA Bruins who defeated the West Virginia Mountaineers, 62–60, in the final before a crowd of 8,658 at the Charleston Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia, on April 4. It was UCLA's first WNIT title. UCLA's Jordin Canada was named the tournament's most valuable player.
The 2016 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2016 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament was played on campus sites for the first three rounds, with the Final Four and championship game being held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The tournament began on Tuesday, March 15 and ended on Thursday, March 31. An experimental rule allowing players six personal fouls instead of five was approved for use in all national postseason tournaments except for the NCAA Tournament. The NIT Selection Show aired at 8:30 PM EDT on Sunday, March 13, 2016, on ESPNU. George Washington were the champions over Valparaiso 76–60. The Colonials victory was their first-ever NIT title.
The 2017 Women's National Invitation Tournament was an annual single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2017 Women's NCAA tournament. The tournament committee announced the 64-team field on March 13, following the selection of the NCAA Tournament field. The tournament began on March 15 and ended on April 1, with the championship game televised on the CBS Sports Network. In the championship game, the Michigan Wolverines defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 89–79, in triple overtime.
The National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) is a postseason women's college softball tournament sponsored by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and operated by Triple Crown Sports, Inc., a company that produces events for college and youth athletics. The tournament is for NCAA Division I teams that did not qualify for the NCAA Division I Softball Championship. Announced in December 2016, there are to be thirty-two automatic qualifiers from the thirty-two NCAA-sanctioned conferences and sixteen at-large teams selected on the basis of their RPI ranking and/or their season's performance (i.e. won-lost record, record versus top-50 teams).
The 2017 National Invitational Volleyball Championship began on Tuesday, November 28, 2017 and concluded on Tuesday, December 12. The first 15 automatic qualifying teams were announced on Sunday, November 21, and the full field was announced after the NCAA Tournament selection show on the night of Sunday, November 26. All games were played at on-campus sites, and the finals were streamed live on ESPN3.
The 2018 Women's National Invitation Tournament was an annual single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2018 Women's NCAA tournament. The tournament committee announced the 64-team field on March 12, following the selection of the NCAA Tournament field. The tournament began on March 14 and ended on March 31, with the championship game televised on the CBS Sports Network. In the championship game, Indiana defeated Virginia Tech, 65–57.
The 2019 Women's National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2019 Women's NCAA tournament. The tournament committee announced the 64-team field on March 18, following the selection of the NCAA Tournament field. The tournament began on March 20, 2019, and concluded on April 6, 2019, with the championship game televised on the CBS Sports Network. In the championship game, Arizona defeated Northwestern 56–42 to win the tournament.
The 2020 Women's National Invitation Tournament was to be an annual single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I basketball teams that were not selected to participate in the 2020 Women's NCAA tournament. The tournament committee was to announce the 64-team field on March 16, following the selection of the NCAA Tournament field. The tournament was set to begin on March 18, 2020, and end on April 4, 2020, with the championship game televised on the CBS Sports Network.
The 2021 Women's National Invitation Tournament was a tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2021 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. The tournament committee announced the 32-team field on March 15, 2021, following the selection of the NCAA Tournament field. The tournament began on March 19, 2021, with the championship game on March 28, 2021. Rice won its first WNIT championship. All games were streamed on FloSports.
The 2005 Women's National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2005 Women's NCAA tournament. It was the eighth edition of the postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament.
The 2022 Women's National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I Women's college basketball teams that were not selected for the field of the 2022 Women's NCAA tournament. The tournament committee announced the 64-team field on March 13, following the selection of the NCAA Tournament field. The tournament started March 16 and ended on April 2 with the championship game televised by CBSSN. The tournament was won by the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
The 2023 Women's National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I women's college basketball teams that were not selected for the field of the 2023 Women's NCAA Tournament. The tournament committee announced the 64-team field on March 13, following the selection of the NCAA Tournament field. The tournament started March 15 and ended on April 1 with the championship game televised by CBSSN. Kansas won the tournament for the first time in program history.
References
- ↑ "CBS SN to Televise WNIT Championship Game". Women's NIT. Triple Crown Sports. Archived from the original on March 28, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
- ↑ "2016 Postseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
- ↑ "Details announced for 2016 Postseason WNIT". WNIT. TripleCrownSports. Archived from the original on February 19, 2016.
- ↑ "NCAA selection committee snubs Triangle women's teams". newsobserver. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
- ↑ "Dykes: No WNIT for Arkansas". Arkansas Online. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
- ↑ "South Dakota wins WNIT championship". womensnit.com. April 2, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2022.