NIT 2022: Bracket, Times, Dates, Live Streaming and TV Schedule

March Madness is underway. 

The field of 68 teams for this year's men's NCAA tournament was released Sunday. For some programs, it was a joyous day representing the culmination for all their hard work this season. For others, it was heartbreaking to be one of the bubble teams left on the outside looking in. 

For those teams, as well as for the programs that never had a chance of making the Big Dance, there's the NIT (National Invitational Tournament), which released its own bracket shortly after its NCAA tournament counterpart. 

For the first time since 2019, we'll see a full 32-team NIT field. The tournament was canceled in 2020 because of COVID-19 and featured just 16 teams in 2021. 

According to NCAA.com, "Any team that is a regular-season champion of a DI conference and is not selected to the NCAA DI men's tournament will receive an automatic bid into the NIT."

Let's take a closer look at the bracket for this year's NIT, as well as how and when to tune in. The action begins on March 15 with eight games each day during the first round. 

     

NIT Schedule and Live Stream

March 15-16: first round

March 19-20: second round

March 22-23: quarterfinals

March 29: semifinals at Madison Square Garden

March 31: championship at Madison Square Garden

TV: ESPN

Live Stream: Watch ESPN and ESPN+

     

The following teams received automatic bids to the NIT:

Atlantic Sun: Jacksonville State

Big West: Long Beach State

CAA: Towson

Conference USA: North Texas

Ivy: Princeton

Missouri Valley: Northern Iowa

Sun Belt: Texas State

Horizon League: Cleveland State

MAAC: Iona

MAC: Toledo

Southland: Nicholls

SWAC: Alcorn State

      

The full NIT bracket is below:

Top Left Bracket 

No. 1 Dayton vs. Toledo

No. 4 Vanderbilt vs. Belmont

No. 3 Florida vs. Iona

No. 2 Xavier vs. Cleveland State

Bottom Left Bracket

No. 1 Oklahoma vs. Missouri State

No. 4 Colorado vs. St. Bonaventure

No. 3 Mississippi State vs. Virginia

No. 2 North Texas vs. Texas State

Top Right Bracket

No. 1 SMU vs. Nicholls

No. 4 Washington State vs. Santa Clara

No. 3 Saint Louis vs. Northern Iowa

No. 2 BYU vs. Long Beach State

Bottom Right Bracket

No. 1 Texas A&M vs. Alcorn State

No. 4 Utah State vs. Oregon

No. 3 VCU vs. Princeton

No. 2 Wake Forest vs. Towson

     

Memphis, 2021 NIT champion, made the NCAA tournament bracket this year as a No. 9 seed, the Tigers' first appearance since 2014. 

One of the more interesting storylines to come out of the NIT bracket reveal, as WTOL sports director Jordan Strack pointed out, is that Toledo will host No. 1 Dayton in the first round of the men's NIT. The Flyers cannot host at UD Arena because the First Four will be played there. 

Dayton was eliminated in the Atlantic 10 tournament semifinals.

Widely regarded as the biggest snub in March Madness this season, 23-12 Texas A&M won't get a chance to vie for the NCAA title but will be one of the biggest draws in the NIT field. The Aggies faced Tennessee in the SEC Championship Game but lost. 

Texas A&M was one of the first four out, along with Dayton, Oklahoma and SMU. Those teams will serve as the replacements should another team have to withdraw because of COVID-19. 

Oklahoma lost to Texas Tech in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.

Other storylines revolved around the teams that were not in the NIT bracket...but many viewers thought should have been. Michigan was the program most-often mentioned as one that had no business getting into the NCAA tournament bracket.  

Save for Dayton, the higher-seeded teams will host their opponents at their home arenas until the final two rounds. The semifinals and championship game will be held at Madison Square Garden.