NIT 2024: Complete Bracket, First-Round Schedule and Men's Teams to Watch

The NIT has a completely different feel to it in 2024 than in previous seasons.

The format changed to allow more power-conference teams into the field, but a handful of the top teams who missed out on the NCAA tournament opted out of the NIT.

The Indiana State Sycamores and Seton Hall Pirates are the only teams among the "First Four Out" to participate in the NIT. Both teams earned No. 1 seeds along with the Villanova Wildcats and Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

Indiana State is one of 15 mid-majors in the field. That number was supposed to decrease with the new format that eliminated the rule that all regular-season winners who were eliminated in their conference tournaments qualified for the NIT, but with all the opt-outs, the field is nearly split in half between the power-conference and mid-major teams.

Perhaps the most intriguing story in the NIT is the Ohio State Buckeyes, who removed the interim tag from Jake Diebler on Sunday and made him the permanent head coach on Sunday.

Ohio State is one of the few NIT participants with something to actually build on for next season and that could help its motivation in the 32-team event that ends at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The full NIT bracket can be found here on NCAA.com.

NIT First Round Schedule

Sarah Stier/Getty Images

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 13: Mark Armstrong #2 of the Villanova Wildcats goes to the basket as Churchill Abass #5 of the DePaul Blue Demons defends in the second half during the First Round of the Big East Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 13, 2024 in New York City. Villanova won 58-57. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Tuesday, March 19

North Texas at LSU (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network)

Boston College at Providence (7 p.m. ET, ESPNU)

Xavier at Georgia (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Cornell at Ohio State (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

South Florida at UCF (9 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Richmond at Virginia Tech (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

Minnesota at Butler (9 p.m. ET, ESPNU)

Kansas State at Iowa (9 p.m. ET, ESPN)

UC Irvine at Utah (11 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

Wednesday, March 20

Saint Joseph's at Seton Hall (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

SMU at Indiana State (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Loyola Chicago at Bradley (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

UNLV at Princeton (8 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Appalachian State at Wake Forest (8 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

San Francisco at Cincinnati (9 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

VCU at Villanova (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

Ohio State

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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - MARCH 14: Jamison Battle #10 of the Ohio State Buckeyes goes to the basket against Josh Dix #4 of the Iowa Hawkeyes in the second half in the Second Round of the Big Ten Tournament at Target Center on March 14, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Buckeyes defeated the Hawkeyes 90-78. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)

Ohio State has one of the highest motivations in the NIT to perform well.

The Buckeyes went 6-2 under Diebler as the interim coach once Chris Holtmann was fired.

Diebler and the Buckeyes can use the NIT as a program-building event that creates real momentum going into next season.

A bunch of programs opted out because the transfer portal opens on Monday and some NIT participants will have less motivation because of graduating players, transfers and potential coaching changes.

The Buckeyes played some of the best basketball among the 32 NIT participants down the stretch as well. They upset three NCAA tournament teams in the last month.

Ohio State will play at least the first two rounds at home and it has to like its chances to host the quarterfinals since the top seed in its part of the bracket, Wake Forest, was susceptible to upsets over the last few weeks.

A deep run is expected after the success under Diebler and one could make the argument the Buckeyes are one of the favorites to win the NIT because of their motivation.

Indiana State

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TERRE HAUTE, IN - FEBRUARY 03: Indiana State Sycamores Guard Jayson Kent (20) and Drake Bulldogs Forward Darnell Brodie (51) battle for a rebound during the college basketball game between the Drake Bulldogs and the Indiana State Sycamores on February 3, 2024, at the Hulman Center in Terre Haute, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Indiana State is the best mid-major team in the 32-team NIT field.

The Sycamores were the darling of the college basketball world for most of the season, but they missed out on the NCAA tournament due to the multiple bid stealers from conference tournaments.

Indiana State lost out on the Missouri Valley's automatic bid to the Drake Bulldogs. That was the team's sixth defeat of the season.

The Sycamores carry the top two-point offense in Division I, per KenPom. They also rank 11th in three-point offense and third in free-throw shooting.

Their offense will be difficult for any team to stop, even the power-conference squads they match up with. Indiana State has some power-conference experience from its matchups with the Alabama Crimson Tide and Michigan State Spartans.

Indiana State should be overwhelmed in any contest and it has one of the easier paths to the semifinals with an easy first-round matchup against the fading SMU Mustangs and only three power-conference teams in its bracket, two of which play each other in the first round.

The only thing that could derail a potential NIT title bid is the distraction of losing head coach Josh Schertz, who is in talks for the Saint Louis job, per ESPN's Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel.