1978 NIT Basketball Tournament

The 1978 NIT field remained at 16 teams with preliminary games being played on teams campuses. The semi finals and final games were held at Madison Square Garden, New York City. The Texas Longhorns coached by Abe Lemons won their first NIT title defeating the NC State Wolfpack in the championship game. Jim Krivacs and Ron Baxter from the Texas Longhorns were named co-MVPs.

1978 NIT Tournament at Madison Square Gardens

Seed	Team	Season W-L	Conference	Invitation
1	Texas	26-5	Southwest Conference
2	Detroit	25-4	Independent
3	Georgetown	23-8	Independent
4	Indiana State	23-9	Missouri Valley
5	Rutgers	24-7	Eastern 8 Conference
6	Dayton	19-10	Independent
7	North Carolina State	21-10	ACC
8	Nebraska	22-8	Big Eight Conference
9	Utah State	21-7	Independent
10	South Carolina	16-12	Independent
11	Fairfield	22-5	Independent
12	Army	19-9	Independent
13	Illinois State	24-4	Independent
14	Virginia	20-8	ACC
15	VCU	24-5	Independent
16	Temple	24-5	East Coast Conference

First round			NIT Quarterfinals			NIT Semifinals			NIT Championship

1	Texas	72
16	Temple	58
			1	Texas	67

			8	Nebraska	48
8	Nebraska	67

9	Utah State	66
						1	Texas	96

						5	Rutgers	76
5	Rutgers	72

12	Army	70
			5	Rutgers	57

			4	Indiana State	56
13	Illinois State	70

4	Indiana State	73
									1	Texas	101

									7	North Carolina State	93
6	Dayton	108

11	Fairfield	93
			6	Dayton	62

			3	Georgetown	71
14	Virginia	68

3	Georgetown	70
						3	Georgetown	85

						7	North Carolina State	86
7	North Carolina State	83

10	South Carolina	70
			7	North Carolina State	84

			2	Detroit	77
15	VCU	86

2	Detroit	Bye