NIT 2025: Men's Bracket, Times, Dates, Live Streaming and TV Schedule

Thirty-two teams will begin their quests for the NIT title on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The top seeds have the advantage on paper across the first three rounds since the games are hosted on campus sites.

The semifinals and final will be played at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on April 3.

A majority of the 2025 NIT field is made up of mid-major programs. SMU, Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech and Stanford are the only power-conference sides in the field.

NIT Bracket and Dates

Tournament Preview

SMU, Dayton, San Francisco and UC Irvine earned the top seeds in the NIT bracket.

SMU was on track to contend for an NCAA tournament berth in February, but it went 4-5 in its last nine games and dropped into the NIT field.

Dayton overcame a slow start to Atlantic 10 play with an 11-4 stretch in its final 15 games.

San Francisco was third-best in the West Coast Conference behind Gonzaga and Saint Mary's, but it still went 13-5 in conference and picked up 24 overall wins.

UC Irvine was locked in a two-team fight in the Big West with UC San Diego all season, but the Anteaters couldn't get the best of the Tritons in Saturday's Big West tournament final.

All four of those teams hold home-court advantage through the first three rounds.

Of note, the NIT announced on Monday that South Alabama had previously been invited to the tournament, but the invitation was ultimately rescinded:

Dayton's bracket looks like the most difficult one on paper. A-10 tournament finalist George Mason and Missouri Valley tournament finalist Bradley are the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the Dayton region.

But sometimes the best teams on paper don't win the NIT due to a wealth of factors.

Motivation can be found in teams building for next season, while others may fall flat early in the tournament due to coaching changes or transfer portal entries.

Having a field with predominantly mid-major teams may take away the list of teams with little-to-no motivation. A handful of the top power-conference programs that did not make the NCAA tournament will be headed to the College Basketball Crown event.

Power conference teams won nine of the last 11 NITs dating back to 2012, so if anything, the opportunity is there for some teams that typically don't win tournaments to bring home a trophy.