2016 NIT Men's Basketball Tournamnet

2016 NIT Basketball Tournament

The 2016 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The 79th annual tournament began March 15 on campus sites ended on March 31 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The George Washington Colonials coached by Mike Lonergan won their first NIT title, defeating the Valparaiso Crusaders in the championship game. Tyler Cavanaugh of George Washington was named the tournament MVP. The NCAA announced an experimental rule allowing players six personal fouls instead of five was approved for use in all national postseason tournaments except for the NCAA Tournament.

2016 NIT Tournament at Madison Square Gardens

Semifinals			National Championship Game

1	Valparaiso	72
2	BYU	70
			1	Valparaiso	60
			4	George Washington	76
2	San Diego State	46
4	George Washington	65

Preliminary Rounds (1) held On Campus

Team	Season W-L	Conference	Invitation
St. Bonaventure	22-9	Atlantic 10	At-large bid
BYU	22-12	West Coast	At-large bid
Virginia Tech	23-8	ACC	At-large bid
Creighton	23-8	Big East	At-large bid
Alabama	20-11	SEC	At-large bid
Princeton	18-15	Ivy	At-large bid
UAB	24-8	CUSA	Automatic
Wagner	21-12	Northeast	Automatic

Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Finals

1	St. Bonaventure	75
8	Wagner	79
				Wagner	54
				Creighton	87
5	Alabama	54
4	Creighton	72

							Creighton	82
							BYU	88
3	Virginia Tech	86
6	Princeton	81
				BYU	80
				Virginia Tech	77
7	UAB	79
2	BYU	97

Preliminary Rounds (2) held On Campus

Team	Season W-L	Conference	Invitation
Valparaiso	23-8	Horizon	At-large bid
Saint Mary's	22-11	West Coast	At-large bid
Georgia	18-13	SEC	At-large bid
Florida State	18-13	ACC	At-large bid
Davidson	22-9	Atlantic 10	At-large bid
Belmont	22-9	Ohio Valley	At-large bid
New Mexico State	25-7	WAC	Automatic
Texas Southern	21-11	SWAC	Automatic