National Invitation Tournament: Team-by-team breakdown of the 2018 field

The NCAA announced its field of 32 teams for the 81st edition of the NIT on Sunday night. Here’s how the teams stack up.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish tops the list of teams in the 2018 NIT field that was revealed, following the NCAA Tournament selection of 68 teams, on March 11. The Fighting Irish are the top No. 1 seed as they were the first team to miss the cut for the field of 68 according to committee chair Bruce Rasmussen.

This is Notre Dame’s 12th all-time appearance in the NIT. Although it is the Irish’s first since the 2009 season. The Irish are 22-11 in the tournament, which includes four championship appearances. They have never claimed an NIT title.

Notre Dame (20-14) finished 10th in the ACC this season and got hammered by Duke in the conference tournament quarterfinal. But the Irish did have their top two players, Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell, miss time as a result of injuries. Colson missed 15 games and the Irish went 6-9 in those contests. Overall, ND has won seven of its last 11 contests.

Baylor, Saint Mary’s and USC are the other three No. 1 seeds.

This 32 team field consists of 22 teams with at least 20 victories. 21 of the 32 conferences in Division I are represented with 12 teams earning automatic bids by capturing regular season titles.  In addition, seven teams in the field have won an NIT championship.

Temple is making its 19th NIT appearance, which is the most among the current field. The Owls are 23-16 all-time in the NIT which includes two titles. Their last appearance was in 2015 when the Owls advanced to the semifinals.

The 2018 NIT will tip-off its first round on March 13 and March 14 at campus sites. The second round will take place between March 16-19. While the quarterfinals will take place on March 20 and 21. The semifinals and finals will once again be held at Madison Square Garden (March 27 and 29).