NIT 2022: Complete Bracket, 1st-Round Schedule and Teams to Watch

Every year, there are some men's college basketball teams that just miss out on the NCAA Division I tournament. These schools were likely on the bubble throughout conference championship week, but they came up just short and got left out of the March Madness field.

However, the season doesn't have to end there for those programs. Many of them opt to participate in the National Invitation Tournament, a 32-team event that features some of the best squads that were excluded from the NCAA tourney.

The 2022 NIT will be a return to normalcy after the 2020 event was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic and the 2021 tourney was limited to 16 teams and took place entirely in the Dallas area. This year, the higher-seeded teams will host the matchups through the quarterfinals, then the semifinals and championship game will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Here's the schedule for the first round of the 2022 NIT, followed by a look at the top teams to watch in the tournament.

2022 NIT 1st-Round Schedule

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Tuesday, March 15

Princeton at VCU, 7 p.m. ET, ESPNU

Belmont at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Missouri State at Oklahoma, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN

Texas State at North Texas, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Cleveland State at Xavier, 9 p.m. ET, ESPNU

Alcorn State at Texas A&M, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Oregon at Utah State, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN

Santa Clara at Washington State, 11 p.m. ET, ESPNU

St. Bonaventure at Colorado, 11 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Wednesday, March 16

Towson at Wake Forest, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Dayton at Toledo, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Mississippi State at Virginia, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Nicholls at SMU, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Northern Iowa at Saint Louis, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Long Beach State at BYU, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Iona at Florida, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Complete NIT bracket available at NCAA.com.

Texas A&M (23-12)

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Throughout this season, Texas A&M has been a streaky team. At one point, it lost eight consecutive games and plummeted down the SEC standings. But the Aggies have been playing much better of late, and they nearly got into the NCAA tournament.

After winning four straight games to end the regular season, Texas A&M had an impressive showing in the SEC tournament. It defeated Florida, Auburn (the No. 1 seed) and Arkansas on three consecutive days before coming up just short against Tennessee in the championship game. Then, the Aggies were left out of the NCAA tourney by the selection committee.

Instead, Texas A&M will be one of the four No. 1 seeds in the NIT. And as it proved last week, it can take down some tough opponents when playing its best.

If the Aggies get hot again, they may roll through the NIT bracket and potentially end the season with a tournament championship.

Oklahoma (18-15)

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On Feb. 22, Oklahoma was 14-14 and had a 4-11 record in Big 12 play. But they won their final three games of the regular season, and that helped them build momentum for their conference tournament, where they'd notch their biggest win of the year.

In Big 12 tourney quarterfinals, Oklahoma knocked off Baylor, the defending national champions. The Sooners then nearly made it to the championship game, coming up just short in a 56-55 loss to Texas Tech in the semifinals. Still, it was a showing that had Oklahoma on the NCAA tourney bubble and earned a No. 1 seed in the NIT.

Oklahoma is a strong shooting team, as it ranked second in the Big 12 in field-goal percentage (47.5) and second in free-throw percentage (74.3). If the Sooners are knocking down their shots in the NIT, they could make a deep run through the bracket.

Wake Forest (23-9)

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Wake Forest opened this season by winning 20 of its first 25 games, at which point it had a 10-4 record in ACC play. But the Demon Deacons lost their momentum down the stretch, as they've dropped four of their past seven games, including an overtime loss to Boston College in the second round of the ACC tourney.

But there's one big reason that Wake could get back on track in the NIT: It has the ACC Player of the Year on its roster. Demon Deacons senior guard Alondes Williams has had an impressive season, as he's averaging 19.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 32 games.

When Williams is playing his best, Wake Forest can be difficult to beat. So don't be surprised if the No. 2-seeded Demon Deacons have a strong showing in the NIT and notch some impressive wins along the way, in large part because of Williams.