NIT 2020: Dates, Format, Schedule for Men and Women's Tournaments

Selection Sunday is less than a week away, which means it's time for programs with March Madness hopes to also prepare for the possibility of missing out and accepting an invitation to the NIT.

The conference championship tournaments are quickly wrapping up, which means we are getting an idea of which teams have earned automatic bids to the Big Dance. Teams that performed well in the regular season but fell short in the tournaments, both in major and mid-major conferences, have an anxious Sunday ahead of them.

The NIT lacks the prestige of the NCAA tournament, but it still offers an opportunity for graduating seniors or pro prospects on lackluster squads to finish the season on a high note and gain exposure.

Dates and Format for NIT

The 2020 men's NIT is a single-elimination tournament consisting of 32 teams. It starts on March 17 and ends on April 2. The early rounds will be played at campus sites, while the semi-final and final are played at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The women's NIT begins on March 18 and will end on April 4. It's also a single-elimination tournament, but twice the size with 64 teams taking part. All games are played on campus sites. This year, the women's NIT will experiment with a new three-point line distance that's farther from the basket.

The top of the arc is currently just under 21 feet from the basket, but for the women's NIT, it will be 22 feet and 1¾ inches away, per WomensNIT.com. Similar rule changes and experiment have been conducted on the men's side in the past. 

Qualified Teams

A small handful of teams are already guaranteed a berth in the men's NIT, although one of them definitely won't be going. Teams that have the best regular-season record in their conference but fail to win the conference tournament automatically qualify.

One such team is San Diego State. The Aztecs are 30-2 on the year but lost to Utah State on a last-second three-pointer in the Mountain West tournament title game. This squad is going to be nowhere near the NIT after an incredible season. They will have a high seed for the Big Dance. 

Two teams that could end up in the NIT are Radford and Northern Iowa. They topped the Big South and Missouri Valley Conferences, respectively, during the regular season but faltered in the conference tournaments. Radford is 21-11 on the year, which won't get them any love from the selection committee, so expect an NIT berth.

Northern Iowa is 25-6 on the season after losing to Drake in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. They've put together a stellar season, but mid-majors that don't get an automatic bid often find themselves in bubble trouble, even if they have great records. The Panthers still have an outside shot at the NCAA tournament, but an NIT bid seems like the more likely outcome. If they do go, the tournament could be a showcase for AJ Green, who is averaging 19.7 points per game for the Panthers.

As for the bigger fish that might end up in the NIT, one program to keep an eye on is Tennessee. The Volunteers are 17-14 on the year, and there only shot at making the NCAA tournament is winning the SEC tournament. If they don't, head coach Rick Barnes says his team will "no doubt" accept an NIT bid, per KnoxNews.com's Mike Wilson.

Teams from larger conferences often do well in the NIT, allowing them to build up confidence for the next season. Last year's NIT winner was Texas, who beat Lipscomb in the final. In the women's NIT, Arizona won it all in 2019, defeating Northwestern in the championship game.