NCAA Basketball: 2021 NIT Season Tip-Off preview and predictions

The Preseason NIT is one of those regular-season tournaments that fans look forward to because not only is the NIT an iconic tournament in NCAA Basketball, the venues they have been played in are just as iconic. The Preseason version of the tournament has been around since 1985 and for the first 30+ years Madison Square Garden played host to the event and since 2015 the Barclays Center in Brooklyn has become its home and one of the biggest social events of Thanksgiving holiday week.

The tournament has gone through a number of different formats with the current one being just a four-team get-together being sandwiched around Thanksgiving Day. This year’s field, while lacking the star power of other early-season tournaments or buildings like MSG or the Barclays are used to but Memphis, Xavier, Iowa State, and Virginia Tech each offer fans something about their teams that make this edition of the Preseason NIT an interesting watch.

The matchup for this year’s tournament will pit the Xavier Musketeers out of the Big East taking on the Big 12’s Iowa State Cyclones and the other semifinal will see the Memphis Tigers from the American Athletic conference battling the Virginia Tech Hokies out of the ACC.

While this field isn’t wrought with eye-catching names or games that scream must-watch TV, three of the four teams in the field were picked to finish in the top five of their conference this season. Let’s take a look at the teams you will be able to watch while preparing for and then digesting your Thanksgiving feast.