Pour One Out for the NIT: The Fall of a Once-Great Tournament

For many fans, the NIT has long been mocked as the “Not Important Tournament.” While I’ve never been one to completely dismiss it, the recent changes in the college basketball postseason landscape have placed the NIT firmly on death watch. The emergence of a new postseason tournament has essentially stripped it of its relevance, and the selections only reinforce our first look at that new reality.

Once upon a time, the NIT was the pinnacle of college basketball, even more prestigious than the NCAA Tournament. While that hierarchy flipped decades ago, the NIT still held value for quality teams that barely missed the NCAA field. Until recently, making the NIT was an achievement—evidence of a solid season. It was a stepping stone, a way for teams to build momentum for future NCAA success.

The NIT’s Decreasing Standards

Unfortunately, the tournament has lost much of its credibility. This year, teams like San Jose State, which finished 15-19 and ranked 175th in the NET, received bids. In the past, a mid-major program needed to be in the top 80 of the NET or earn an automatic bid to qualify. Now, teams with no business making the field are getting in. In fact, two mid-major schools were surprised to get calls. One, CSUN, had already committed to the CBI.

Meanwhile, Power Five teams seem uninterested in participating moving forward. When a program like North Carolina or St. John’s declined an invitation last year, it sent a message: the NIT isn’t worth their time. The transfer portal also complicates things, as schools would rather focus on roster prep. Moving forward, it wouldn’t be surprising to see only one or two Power Five programs in the NIT field—teams that couldn’t get into the new Crown tournament, where the better teams in the Big 12, Big Ten, and Big East are required to play. There were only four this year, and even some of those were of lesser quality than usual, like a 15-17 Oklahoma State.

They saw the NIT’s weakness, wielded their power with schools TV deals they controlled, and ultimately won it appears.

What Made the NIT Valuable?

Despite the shift in perception, there was once a case to be made for the NIT’s significance. Programs that weren’t perennial NCAA Tournament contenders viewed an NIT Final Four run—or a championship—as an accomplishment. Many past winners finished the season ranked higher in analytical systems like KenPom than teams that made the NCAA Tournament’s second round.

Here’s a look at the last decade of NIT champions and their final KenPom rankings:

Winning the NIT was often a tangible way to prove that a team was better than its NCAA snub suggested. Take North Texas, for example. When they won the NIT in 2023 over conference rival UAB, it reinforced that Conference USA was underrated and that they should have been in the NCAA Tournament. In previous years, teams used the NIT as a launchpad for future success—less so now, with the portal and roster turnover.

Does the NIT Still Matter?

The shift in the tournament landscape has left the NIT in a precarious position. If you’re a fan of a program that never makes the NCAA Tournament, a single March Madness bid will always be more valuable than any NIT run. But for mid-tier Power Six teams that frequently bounce between the NCAA and NIT, winning the latter used to be a legitimate accomplishment.

I’ve always viewed an NIT title as roughly equivalent to an NCAA Tournament second-round appearance. There’s something to be said for winning your last game and lifting a trophy, but with the current field becoming a dumping ground for subpar teams, even that prestige is fading.

The Beginning of the End

At this point, the NIT’s decline feels irreversible. With the new tournament drawing better teams and setting stricter selection criteria, the NIT is left with scraps. It’s becoming a postseason mid-major participation trophy rather than a proving ground for quality teams. It seems to be filling a void similar to the early days of the CBI.

It’s sad to see a tournament with such a rich history reduced to this state, but the writing is on the wall. The NIT as we once knew it is gone.