How the NIT works: Bracket, format and what to know
Chattanooga won the 2025 NIT championship, completing its Cinderella story and upsetting No. 1 UC Irvine 85-84 in overtime. The victory marks the Mocs' first NIT title and ties the program record for most wins in a season.
Forward Garrison Keeslar hit the game-winning jump shot with 11 seconds left, and guard Trey Bonham was named the Most Outstanding Player behind a 19-point, 10-rebound performance and half-court buzzer beater to end the first half.
The Anteaters nearly won it in the final moments, but fell short after missing a layup on a Hail Mary play with less than a second left.
CHATTANOOGA SURVIVES 😱
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter)
An OT thriller in the NIT championship 🍿
The 2025 National Invitation Tournament kicked off on Sunday, March 16 at 9 p.m. ET when the 32-team field was announced. SMU, Dayton, San Francisco and UC Irvine received the top four seeds. The NIT semifinals and championship were played at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN.
2025 NIT bracket
➡️ Click or tap here for a bracket PDF
2025 NIT schedule, TV channels
- Selections: Sunday, March 16, 9 p.m. ET
- Tuesday, March 18 — First Round
- Wednesday, March 19 — First Round
- No. 1 Dayton 86, Florida Atlantic 79
- No. 2 George Mason 86, Samford 69
- UAB 69, No. 3 Saint Joseph's 65
- No. 2 North Texas 75, Furman 64
- No. 3 Bradley 71, North Alabama 62
- No. 1 SMU 73, UNI 63
- No. 1 UC Irvine 82, Northern Colorado 72
- No. 1 San Francisco 79, Utah Valley 70
- Loyola Chicago 73, No. 4 San Jose State 70
- Saturday, March 22 — Second round
- Sunday, March 23 — Second round
- Tuesday, March 25 — Quarterfinals
- Wednesday, March 26 — Quarterfinals
- Tuesday, April 1 — Semifinals
- Thursday, April 3 — NIT championship
NIT championship history
| YEAR | SCHOOL | SCORE | RUNNER UP | MVP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Temple | 60-36 | Colorado | Don Shields, Temple |
| 1939 | Long Island | 44-32 | Loyola | Bill Lloyd, St. John's |
| 1940 | Colorado | 51-40 | Duquesne | Bob Doll, Colorado |
| 1941 | Long Island | 56-42 | Ohio | Frankie Baumholtz, Ohio |
| 1942 | West Virginia | 47-45 | Western Kentucky State | Rudy Baric, West Virginia |
| 1943 | St. John's | 48-27 | Toledo | Harry Boykoff, St. John's |
| 1944 | St. John's | 47-39 | DePaul | Bill Kotsores, St. John's |
| 1945 | DePaul | 71-54 | Bowling Green | George Mikan, DePaul |
| 1946 | Kentucky | 46-45 | Rhode Island | Ernie Calverley, Rhode Island |
| 1947 | Utah | 49-45 | Kentucky | Vern Gardner, Utah |
| 1948 | Saint Louis | 65-52 | NYU | Ed Macauley, Saint Louis |
| 1949 | San Francisco | 48-47 | Loyola Chicago | Don Lofgran, San Francisco |
| 1950 | CCNY | 69-61 | Bradley | Ed Warner, CCNY |
| 1951 | BYU | 62-43 | Dayton | Roland Minson, BYU |
| 1952 | La Salle | 75-64 | Dayton | Tom Gola and Norm Grekin, La Salle |
| 1953 | Seton Hall | 58-46 | St. John's | Walter Dukes, Seton Hall |
| 1954 | Holy Cross | 71-62 | Duquesne | Togo Palazzi, Holy Cross |
| 1955 | Duquesne | 70-58 | Dayton | Maurice Stokes, St. Francis (PA) |
| 1956 | Louisville | 93-80 | Dayton | Charlie Tyra, Louisville |
| 1957 | Bradley | 84-83 | Memphis State | Win Wilfong, Memphis State |
| 1958 | Xavier | 78-74 | Dayton | Hank Stein, Xavier |
| 1959 | St. John's | 76-71 | Bradley | Tony Jackson, St. John's |
| 1960 | Bradley | 88-72 | Providence | Lenny Wilkens, Providence |
| 1961 | Providence | 62-59 | Saint Louis | Vin Ernst, Providence |
| 1962 | Dayton | 73-67 | St. John's | Bill Chmielewski, Dayton |
| 1963 | Providence | 81-66 | Canisius | Raymond Flynn, Providence |
| 1964 | Bradley | 86-54 | New Mexico | Levern Tart, Bradley |
| 1965 | St. John's | 55-51 | Villanova | Ken McIntyre, St. John's |
| 1966 | BYU | 97-84 | NYU | Bill Melchionni, Villanova |
| 1967 | Southern Illinois | 71-56 | Marquette | Walt Frazier, Southern Illinois |
| 1968 | Dayton | 61-48 | Kansas | Don May, Dayton |
| 1969 | Temple | 89-76 | Boston College | Terry Driscoll, Boston College |
| 1970 | Marquette | 65-53 | St. John's | Dean Meminger, Marquette |
| 1971 | North Carolina | 84-66 | Georgia Tech | Bill Chamberlain, North Carolina |
| 1972 | Maryland | 100-69 | Niagara | Tom McMillen, Maryland |
| 1973 | Virginia Tech | 92-91 | Notre Dame | John Schumate, Notre Dame |
| 1974 | Purdue | 87-81 | Utah | Mike Sojourner, Utah |
| 1975 | Princeton | 80-69 | Providence | Ron Lee, Oregon |
| 1976 | Kentucky | 71-67 | Charlotte | Cedric Maxwell, Charlotte |
| 1977 | St. Bonaventure | 94-91 | Houston | Greg Sanders, St. Bonaventure |
| 1978 | Texas | 101-93 | NC State | Jim Krivacs and Ron Baxter, Texas |
| 1979 | Indiana | 53-52 | Purdue | Butch Carter and Ray Tolbert, Indiana |
| 1980 | Virginia | 58-55 | Minnesota | Ralph Sampson, Virginia |
| 1981 | Tulsa | 86-84 | Syracuse | Greg Stewart, Tulsa |
| 1982 | Bradley | 67-58 | Purdue | J.J. Anderson, Bradley |
| 1983 | Fresno State | 69-60 | DePaul | Ron Anderson, Fresno State |
| 1984 | Michigan | 83-63 | Notre Dame | Tim McCormick, Michigan |
| 1985 | UCLA | 65-62 | Indiana | Reggie Miller, UCLA |
| 1986 | Ohio State | 73-63 | Wyoming | Brad Sellers, Ohio State |
| 1987 | Southern Miss | 84-80 | La Salle | Randolph Keys, Southern Miss |
| 1988 | Connecticut | 72-67 | Ohio State | Phil Gamble, Connecticut |
| 1989 | St. John's | 73-65 | Saint Louis | Jayson Williams, St. John's |
| 1990 | Vanderbilt | 74-72 | Saint Louis | Scott Draud, Vanderbilt |
| 1991 | Stanford | 78-72 | Oklahoma | Adam Keefe, Stanford |
| 1992 | Virginia | 81-76 (OT) | Notre Dame | Bryant Stith, Virginia |
| 1993 | Minnesota | 62-61 | Georgetown | Voshon Lenard, Minnesota |
| 1994 | Villanova | 80-73 | Vanderbilt | Doremus Bennerman, Siena |
| 1995 | Virginia Tech | 65-64 | Marquette | Shawn Smith, Virginia Tech |
| 1996 | Nebraska | 60-56 | Saint Joseph's | Erick Strickland, Nebraska |
| 1997 | Michigan* | 82-73 | Florida State | Robert Traylor, Michigan |
| 1998 | Minnesota* | 79-72 | Penn State | Kevin Clark, Minnesota |
| 1999 | California | 61-60 | Clemson | Sean Lampley, California |
| 2000 | Wake Forest | 71-61 | Notre Dame | Robert O'Kelley, Wake Forest |
| 2001 | Tulsa | 79-66 | Alabama | Marcus Hill, Tulsa |
| 2002 | Memphis | 72-62 | South Carolina | Dejuan Wagner, Memphis |
| 2003 | St. John's* | 70-67 | Georgetown | Marcus Hatten, St. John's |
| 2004 | Michigan | 62-55 | Rutgers | Daniel Horton, Michigan |
| 2005 | South Carolina | 60-57 | Saint Joseph's | Carlos Powell, South Carolina |
| 2006 | South Carolina | 76-64 | Michigan | Renaldo Balkman, South Carolina |
| 2007 | West Virginia | 78-73 | Clemson | Frank Young, West Virginia |
| 2008 | Ohio State | 92-85 | Massachusetts | Kosta Koufos, Ohio State |
| 2009 | Penn State | 69-63 | Baylor | Jamelle Cornley, Penn State |
| 2010 | Dayton | 79-68 | North Carolina | Chris Johnson, Dayton |
| 2011 | Wichita State | 66-57 | Alabama | Graham Hatch, Wichita State |
| 2012 | Stanford | 75-51 | Minnesota | Aaron Bright, Stanford |
| 2013 | Baylor | 74-54 | Iowa | Pierre Jackson, Baylor |
| 2014 | Minnesota | 65-63 | SMU | Austin Hollins, Minnesota |
| 2015 | Stanford | 66-64 (OT) | Miami | Chasson Randle, Stanford |
| 2016 | George Washington | 76-60 | Valparaiso | Tyler Cavanaugh, George Washington |
| 2017 | TCU | 88-56 | Georgia Tech | Kenrich Williams, TCU |
| 2018 | Penn State | 82-66 | Utah | Lamar Stevens, Penn State |
| 2019 | Texas | 81-66 | Lipscomb | Kerwin Roach, Texas |
| 2020 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2021 | Memphis | 77-64 | Mississippi State | Landers Nolley II, Memphis |
| 2022 | Xavier | 73-72 | Texas A&M | Colby Jones, Xavier |
| 2023 | North Texas | 68-61 | UAB | Tylor Perry, North Texas |
| 2024 | Seton Hall | 79-77 | Indiana State | Al-Amir Dawes, Seton Hall |
*-Vacated
