NIT 2017: Known Tournament Info, Format and Championship Dates

The 2017 men's National Invitational Tournament will take place from March 14 through March 30, featuring 32 of the best teams that did not make the NCAA tournament field.

Although the bracket won't be released until Sunday, March 12 at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU (and live-streamed on WatchESPN), we do know some information about the NIT at this time.

Here's a look at the schedule, the format, championship dates, teams that are assured of NIT bids and a look at two schools who are squarely on the bubble.

Men's NIT Schedule

Rounds	Dates	Cities	Locations
First	Tuesday, March 14, and Wednesday, March 15	Campus Sites	TBD
Second	Thursday, March 16, through Monday, March 20	Campus Sites	TBD
Quarterfinals	Tuesday, March 21, and Wednesday, March 22	Campus Sites	TBD
Semifinals	Tuesday, March 28	New York City	Madison Square Garden
Championship	Thursday, March 30	New York City	Madison Square Garden

Information via ncaa.com.

Tournament Format

The NIT is a single-elimination knockout-style tournament. The 32 teams are split into quartets of eight and seeded No. 1 through No. 8. In the first round, the No. 1 seeds play the No. 8 seeds, No. 2 plays No. 7, No. 3 plays No. 6 and No. 4 plays No. 5.

In the first three rounds, the games are played at the home arena of the higher seed. Once the NIT reaches the semifinals, the tournament moves to Madison Square Garden.

Teams Invited to the Field

Every team that won its conference's regular-season title but did not take the league championship is automatically invited to the NIT if it does not make the NCAA tournament.

For example, South Dakota was the Summit League regular-season champion but lost in the conference tournament semifinals. However, it will still receive an automatic invite to the NIT.

Purdue, which won the Big Ten regular-season title but lost in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals to Michigan, would hypothetically be invited to the NIT, but the Boilermakers have sealed an NCAA tournament bid at this point (Purdue is a projected No. 4 seed per Bleacher Report college basketball writer Kerry Miller's latest projections).

Here is a current list of teams that won their regular-season title, failed to win the conference championship tournament and are predicted to finish outside the current NCAA tournament field at this time, per Miller:

Team	Conference
Belmont	Ohio Valley Conference (OVC)
Illinois State	Missouri Valley Conference (MVC)
Monmouth	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC)
Oakland	Horizon League
South Dakota	Summit League
UNC Greensboro	Southern Conference (SoCon)

Source: NYC Buckets

Teams on the Fence

Two bubble teams stand out among a multitude of squads that will be glued to the television on Sunday afternoon.

The aforementioned Illinois State Redbirds are currently projected to be one of the last teams out of the tournament, but it is conceivable that they still make the NCAA field. Illinois State went 27-6 this season and 17-1 in the MVC, but it lost to Wichita State, 71-51 in the MVC title game.

The Redbirds' win-loss record is its best case for an NCAA tournament bid. Teams don't just fall into 27 wins by accident. They also are ranked No. 34 in ratings percentage index, per ESPN.

On the flip side, Illinois State didn't play a tough schedule (155th) and only had two wins against teams ranked in the top 100 in RPI.

Syracuse is the other team that the selection committee will debate endlessly. The Orange have some great wins on their record (e.g. Duke, Florida State and Virginia), but they ended the season with a mediocre 18-14 record, including an eighth-place finish in the middle of the ACC pack.

Syracuse also has five losses against teams outside the top 100 in RPI, including one to Boston College, which finished last in the ACC.

Still, those big wins might be enough for Syracuse to make the field.