The NIT Season Tip-Off is an annual college basketball tournament that takes place in November of each year, toward the beginning of the season. The first two rounds are held at campus sites, while the semifinals and the finals are held during the week of Thanksgiving in Brooklyn, NY. 2020's tournament was to be held at Amway Center in Orlando, FL, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused the NCAA to cancel it. The tournament, which is a part of the regular season for all participating colleges, began in 1985 as the Preseason NIT, so-called in order to distinguish it from the post-season NIT. In 2005, the NCAA purchased the Men's Preseason and Postseason NIT and renamed the November tournament the NIT Season Tip-Off. The tournament remains one of the most well-known preseason tournaments in NCAA Division I men's basketball, along with the Maui Invitational.
The Rhode Island Rams are the intercollegiate athletic programs that represent the University of Rhode Island, based in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. The Rams compete in the NCAA's Division I as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The football team, however, competes in the Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference of the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision, as the A-10 does not sponsor football. The program's athletic director is Thorr Bjorn.
The Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing Michigan State University. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference of NCAA Division I college basketball. The Spartans have won two NCAA championships and 16 Big Ten Championships. Their home games are played at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing, Michigan. Tom Izzo has been the head coach since 1995.
The Dayton Flyers men's basketball team is a college basketball program that competes in NCAA Division I and the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) representing the University of Dayton in Ohio. The Flyers play their home games at University of Dayton Arena. The Flyers are coached by Anthony Grant who is in his seventh season. In March 2020, Dayton was ranked #3 in the AP Top 25 Poll, its highest ranking since the 1955–56 season when it was ranked #2. The Flyers have never been ranked #1, but Dayton did receive a lone first place vote in the final AP poll of the 2019–2020 season. When the 2020 seasons was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Flyers did not get to participate in the 2020 NCAA Tournament, despite being projected as a #1 seed by several outlets.
The Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team is a college basketball program that competes in NCAA Division I and the Atlantic 10 Conference. The team was recently under the direction of head coach Archie Miller. The Rams play their home games at the Ryan Center which opened in 2002.
The Colorado State Rams men's basketball team represents Colorado State University, located in Fort Collins, in the U.S. state of Colorado, in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They play their home games at the Moby Arena and are members of the Mountain West Conference. They are led by head coach Niko Medved.
The Stony Brook Seawolves men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing Stony Brook University. The school competes in the Coastal Athletic Association in NCAA Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The team plays its home games at Island Federal Credit Union Arena, located on the university's campus in Stony Brook, New York.
The MSU Denver Roadrunners are the athletic teams that represent Metropolitan State University of Denver. The Roadrunners participate in 15 intercollegiate sports and compete in the Division II Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
Metropolitan State University of Denver is a public university in Denver, Colorado. It is located on the Auraria Campus, along with the University of Colorado Denver and the Community College of Denver, in downtown Denver, adjacent to Speer Boulevard and Colfax Avenue. MSU Denver had an enrollment of 16,345 undergraduate students in the fall of 2023.
The Northeast Conference men's basketball tournament is the conference championship tournament in basketball for the Northeast Conference (NEC). It has been held every year since the NEC was established in the 1981–82 season. The tournament is an eight-team single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records. The bracket is reseeded after the quarterfinals, with the highest remaining seed playing the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals. The tournament winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA basketball tournament.
Derrick Clark is an American college basketball coach, currently an assistant coach at Loyola Marymount University. He was previously head coach at Metro State University in Denver, Colorado.
The 2016–17 Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners men's basketball team represented California State University, Bakersfield during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Roadrunners, led by sixth-year head coach Rod Barnes, played their home games at the Icardo Center as members of the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 25–10, 12–2 in WAC play to win the regular season WAC championship. They defeated Utah Valley to advance to the championship game of the WAC tournament where they lost to New Mexico State. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament. As a No. 8 seed, they defeated California, Colorado State, and Texas–Arlington to become the first No. 8 seed to advance to the semifinals since the NIT introduced seeding in 2006. In the semifinals at Madison Square Garden they lost to Georgia Tech.
The 2017–18 VCU Rams men's basketball team represented Virginia Commonwealth University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rams were led by Mike Rhoades in his first season as head coach at VCU. The Rams played their home games at Stuart C. Siegel Center in Richmond, Virginia as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference.
The 2017–18 Syracuse Orange men's basketball team represented Syracuse University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Orange were led by 42nd-year head coach Jim Boeheim and played their home games at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York as fifth-year members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 23–14, 8–10 in ACC play to finish in a tie for tenth place. They defeated Wake Forest in the first round of the 2018 ACC tournament before losing in the second round to North Carolina. They received one of the final four at-large bids to the NCAA tournament where, as a No. 11 seed, they defeated Arizona State in the First Four, and upset No. 6 seed TCU in the First Round and No. 3 seed Michigan State in the Second Round before losing in the Sweet Sixteen to fellow ACC member and No. 2 seed Duke.
The 2017–18 Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners men's basketball team represented California State University, Bakersfield during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Roadrunners, led by seventh-year head coach Rod Barnes, played their home games at the Icardo Center as members of the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 12–18, 5–9 in WAC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the WAC tournament to Utah Valley.
The 2017–18 Rhode Island Rams basketball team represented the University of Rhode Island during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rams, led by sixth-year head coach Dan Hurley, played their home games at the Ryan Center in Kingston, Rhode Island as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished the season 26–8, 15–3 in A-10 play to finish win the A-10 regular season championship. They defeated VCU and Saint Joseph's to advance to the championship game of the A-10 tournament where they lost to Davidson. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Oklahoma in the first round before losing in the second round to Duke.
The 2019–20 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Spartans were led by 25th-year head coach Tom Izzo and play their home games at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference.
The 2021–22 Wagner Seahawks men's basketball team represented Wagner College during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Seahawks were led by 10th-year head coach Bashir Mason and they played their home games at Spiro Sports Center on the school's Staten Island campus as members of the Northeast Conference.
The 2022–23 Iona Gaels men's basketball team represented Iona University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Gaels, led by third-year head coach Rick Pitino, played their home games at the Hynes Athletic Center in New Rochelle, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They finished the season 27–8, 17–3 in MAAC play to win the regular season championship. In the MAAC tournament, they defeated Mount St. Mary's, Niagara, and Marist to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 13 seed in the West region. There they lost in the first round to eventual champion UConn.
On March 17, 2023, during the first round of the 2023 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, the Purdue University Boilermakers played a college basketball game against the Fairleigh Dickinson University Knights at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The Boilermakers, who were seeded first in the East regional bracket and fourth overall in the NCAA tournament, faced the Knights, who were seeded 16th in the East regional bracket and 68th, or last, overall.
