National Invitation Tournament: 2018 preview and analysis of the field

Predictions

First round

Notre Dame over Hampton, Penn State over Temple, Rider over Oregon, Marquette over Harvard

USC over UNC Asheville, WKU over Boston College, Stanford over BYU, Oklahoma St over FGCU

Baylor over Wagner, Nebraska over Mississippi St, Vermont over MTSU, Louisville over NKU

St Mary’s over SE Louisiana, Boise State over Washington, Louisiana-Lafayette over LSU, Utah over UC Davis

Second Round

Penn State over Notre Dame, Marquette over Rider

WKU over USC, Oklahoma State over Stanford

Baylor over Nebraska, Vermont over Louisville

St Mary’s over Boise St, Louisana-Lafayette over Utah

Third round

Penn State over Marquette, Oklahoma State over WKU

Baylor over Vermont, St Mary’s over Louisiana-Lafayette

Final Four and Championship

Baylor over Penn State, Oklahoma State over St Mary’s

Oklahoma State over Baylor.

I have Oklahoma State knocking off Baylor in an all-Big 12 final. This would be an excellent championship matchup and would be one of the many compelling games in the tournament. This NIT field looks as strong as it has ever been and there are 8-10 teams that are truly NCAA Tournament-caliber.

Vermont and Louisiana-Lafayette are my two big upset picks. Both teams dominated their conferences but ultimately fell short in the league tournament. Vermont lost on a buzzer beater while Louisiana-Lafayette gave up a late lead over the preseason Sun Belt favorite.

It seems like each season one of the No. 8 seeds upsets a No. 1 seed. This is extremely hard to peg because you can never determine which teams will be motivated in the NIT and which teams just want their season to end. USC was a tournament snub and relies on veteran players who will soon play professionally. This makes them the most likely to be upset, but they also have the most talented roster. It could be boom or bust for the Trojans.

Next: 2018 NCAA Tournament: 7 Biggest Snubs

Overall, this is a very exciting NIT field, which is something that should not be taken for granted. There will be some high-level basketball on display and there could be some must-watch games as the tournament progresses.