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NCAA Basketball: 2018 NIT Season Tip-Off preview and predictions

By TJ Miller

OKLAHOMA CITY - MARCH 20: A detail of a NCAA logo decal is seen at center court as the Kansas State Wildcats play against the Brigham Young Cougars during the second round of the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament at Ford Center on March 20, 2010 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY - MARCH 20: A detail of a NCAA logo decal is seen at center court as the Kansas State Wildcats play against the Brigham Young Cougars during the second round of the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament at Ford Center on March 20, 2010 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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OMAHA, NE – MARCH 25: Lagerald Vick #2 and Udoka Azubuike #35 of the Kansas Jayhawks reacts against the Duke Blue Devils during the second half in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at CenturyLink Center on March 25, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE – MARCH 25: Lagerald Vick #2 and Udoka Azubuike #35 of the Kansas Jayhawks reacts against the Duke Blue Devils during the second half in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at CenturyLink Center on March 25, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

The NIT Season Tip-Off returns again as one of the best college basketball Thanksgiving tournaments. Four fantastic programs will compete in hopes of leaving New York as champions.

Although it has taken a variety of forms since its inception in 1985, the NIT Season Tip-Off has successfully drawn a number of quality NCAA basketball schools. Recent champions have included Virginia last year and Villanova in 2015, and an impressive three of the four participants made the NCAA Tournament back in 2016.

While the tournament had 16 teams seeded in bracket format prior to 2014, the current format sees a handful of teams facing off at campus sites before four teams square off in the championship round semifinals at the Barclays Center in New York.

Louisville, Tennessee, Kansas, and Marquette headline the event this year in one of the best fields the tournament has ever seen.

Both the Jayhawks and Volunteers have been pegged as serious national champion contenders. If they meet Friday in the finals it will be a top 5 matchup with the winner scoring a huge early season resume booster. Marquette boasts one of the most explosive offenses in the country and Louisville has a fresh bounce in its step with the arrival of Coach Chris Mack.

Let’s take a closer look at what to expect in the NIT Season Tip-Off.

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