2015 National Invitation Tournament

2015 National Invitation Tournament
Season2014–15
Teams32
Finals siteMadison Square Garden
New York City
ChampionsStanford Cardinal (3rd title)
Runner-upMiami Hurricanes (1st title game)
Semifinalists
Winning coachJohnny Dawkins (2nd title)
MVPChasson Randle (Stanford)
Attendance117,911 (Total)
6,600 (Title game)
Top scorers1 (1)
1 (1)
(1 points)
National Invitation Tournaments
«2014 2016»

The 2015 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2015 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament is being played on campus sites for the first three rounds, with the Final Four and championship game being held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The tournament began on Tuesday, March 17 and ended on Thursday, April 2. On February 6, the NCAA announced the 2015 NIT will use a 30-second shot clock (same as its WNIT counterpart) and a 4-foot (1.2 m) restricted-area arc as experimental rules for the 2015 tournament.[1] On March 4, the NCAA announced teams that are marked as the first four teams left out of the 2015 NCAA tournament field will be the top-seeded teams in the 2015 NIT.[2]

Participants

Automatic qualifiers

The following teams earned automatic berths into the 2015 NIT field by virtue of having won their respective conference's regular season championship but failing to win their conference tournaments or receive an at-large NCAA bid.

Team Conference Record Appearance Last bid
Bucknell Patriot 19–14 2nd 2012
Central Michigan Mid-American 23–8 2nd 1979
Charleston Southern Big South 19–11 2nd 2013
Iona MAAC 26–8 6th 2014
Louisiana Tech C-USA 25–8 9th 2014
Montana Big Sky 20–12 4th 1995
Murray State Ohio Valley 27–5 8th 2011
North Carolina Central MEAC 25–7 1st Never
South Dakota State Summit 23–10 1st Never
St. Francis Brooklyn Northeast 23–11 4th 1963
UC Davis Big West 25–6 1st Never
William & Mary Colonial 20–12 3rd 2010

At-large bids

The following 20 teams were also awarded NIT berths.

Team Conference Record Appearance Last bid
Alabama SEC 18–14 13th 2013
Arizona State Pac-12 17–15 13th 2013
Colorado State Mountain West 27–6 8th 2011
George Washington Atlantic 10 21–12 5th 2004
Green Bay Horizon 24–8 4th 2014
Illinois Big Ten 19–13 6th 2014
Illinois State Missouri Valley 21–12 13th 2012
Miami (FL) ACC 21–12 11th 2012
Old Dominion C-USA 24–7 11th 2006
Pittsburgh ACC 19–14 9th 2001
Rhode Island Atlantic 10 22–9 15th 2010
Richmond Atlantic 10 19–13 8th 2008
Saint Mary's West Coast 21–9 4th 2014
Stanford Pac-12 19–13 8th 2013
Temple American 23–10 17th 2006
Texas A&M SEC 20–11 7th 2005
Tulsa American 22–10 10th 2010
UConn American 20–14 13th 2010
UTEP C-USA 22–10 10th 2011
Vanderbilt SEC 19–13 12th 2006

Seeds

Old Dominion bracket
Seed School Conference Record Berth type
1 Old Dominion C-USA 24–7 At-large
2 Tulsa American 22–10 At-large
3 Murray State Ohio Valley 27–5 Automatic
4 Illinois State Missouri Valley 21–12 At-large
5 Green Bay Horizon 24–8 At-large
6 UTEP C-USA 22–10 At-large
7 William & Mary Colonial 20–12 Automatic
8 Charleston Southern Big South 19–11 Automatic
Richmond bracket
Seed School Conference Record Berth type
1 Richmond Atlantic 10 19–13 At-large
2 Miami (FL) ACC 21–12 At-large
3 Illinois Big Ten 19–13 At-large
4 UConn American 20–14 At-large
5 Arizona State Pac-12 17–15 At-large
6 Alabama SEC 18–14 At-large
7 North Carolina Central MEAC 25–7 Automatic
8 St. Francis Brooklyn Northeast 23–11 Automatic
Temple bracket
Seed School Conference Record Berth type
1 Temple American 23–10 At-large
2 Texas A&M SEC 20–11 At-large
3 Louisiana Tech C-USA 25–8 Automatic
4 Pittsburgh ACC 19–14 At-large
5 George Washington Atlantic 10 21–12 At-large
6 Central Michigan MAC 23–8 Automatic
7 Montana Big Sky 20–12 Automatic
8 Bucknell Patriot 19–14 Automatic
Colorado State bracket
Seed School Conference Record Berth type
1 Colorado State Mountain West 27–6 At-large
2 Stanford Pac-12 19–13 At-large
3 Rhode Island Atlantic 10 22–9 At-large
4 Saint Mary's West Coast 21–9 At-large
5 Vanderbilt SEC 19–13 At-large
6 Iona MAAC 26–8 Automatic
7 UC Davis Big West 25–6 Automatic
8 South Dakota State Summit 23–10 Automatic

Schedule

Date Time* Matchup Television Score Attendance
First round
March 17 7:00 pm #5 George Washington at #4 Pittsburgh ESPN 60–54 3,049
7:00 pm #7 N.C. Central at #2 Miami (FL) ESPN2 71–75 1,612
7:00 pm #6 Iona at #3 Rhode Island ESPNU 75–88 2,638
7:30 pm #6 Central Michigan at #3 Louisiana Tech ESPN3 79–89 6,904
8:15 pm #7 William & Mary at #2 Tulsa ESPN3 67–70 2,547
9:00 pm #6 UTEP at #3 Murray State ESPN2 66–81 3,376
9:00 pm #7 Montana at #2 Texas A&M ESPNU 64–81 2,583
9:00 pm #3 Illinois at #6 Alabama ESPN 58–79 2,348
11:00 pm #7 UC Davis at #2 Stanford ESPN2 64–77 1,436
March 18 7:00 pm #8 Bucknell at #1 Temple ESPN3 67–73 3,882
7:00 pm #5 Arizona State at #4 UConn ESPN2 68–61 6,045
7:15 pm #8 Charleston Southern at #1 Old Dominion ESPN3 56–65 4,736
7:30 pm #8 St. Francis Brooklyn at #1 Richmond ESPN3 74–84 3,624
8:00 pm #5 Green Bay at #4 Illinois State ESPNU 56–69 4,942
9:00 pm #5 Vanderbilt at #4 Saint Mary's ESPN2 75–64 1,322
10:00 pm #8 South Dakota State at #1 Colorado State ESPNU 86–76 3,391
Second round
March 20 9:30 pm #8 South Dakota State at #5 Vanderbilt ESPNU 77–92 5,605
March 21 11:00 am #6 Alabama @ #2 Miami (FL) ESPN 66–73 1,979
March 22 11:00 am #5 George Washington @ #1 Temple ESPN 77–90 3,404
7:30 pm #5 Arizona State @ #1 Richmond ESPNU 70–76 4,507
9:30 pm #3 Rhode Island @ #2 Stanford ESPNU 65–74 1,235
March 23 7:00 pm #3 Louisiana Tech @ #2 Texas A&M ESPN 84–72 3,859
8:00 pm #4 Illinois State @ #1 Old Dominion ESPNU 49–50 5,923
9:00 pm #3 Murray State @ #2 Tulsa ESPN 83–62 3,440
Quarterfinals
March 24 7:00 pm #2 Miami (FL) @ #1 Richmond ESPN 63–61 6,126
9:00 pm #5 Vanderbilt @ #2 Stanford ESPN 75–78 1,546
March 25 9:00 pm #3 Louisiana Tech @ #1 Temple ESPN2 59–77 3,906
7:00 pm #3 Murray State @ #1 Old Dominion ESPN2 69–72 8,161
Semifinals
March 31 7:00 pm #1Temple vs. #2 Miami (FL) ESPN 57–60 7,185
9:00 pm #2 Stanford vs. #1 Old Dominion ESPN 67–60
Championship game
April 2 9:00 pm #2 Stanford vs. #2 Miami (FL) ESPN 66–64 (OT) 6,600

*Game times in Eastern Time. #Rankings denote tournament seeding.

Bracket

The following teams were listed as the "First Four Out" of the NCAA tournament and received #1 seeds: Old Dominion, Richmond, Temple, Colorado State.

First round
March 17–18 		Second round
March 23 		Quarterfinals
March 25
         
1 Old Dominion 65
8 Charleston Southern 56
1 Old Dominion 50
4 Illinois State 49
4 Illinois State 69
5 Green Bay 56
1 Old Dominion 72
3 Murray State 69
2 Tulsa 70
7 William & Mary 67
2 Tulsa 62
3 Murray State 83
3 Murray State 81
6 UTEP 66
First round
March 17–18 		Second round
March 21–22 		Quarterfinals
March 24
         
1 Richmond 84
8 St. Francis Brooklyn 74
1 Richmond 76
5 Arizona State 70
4 UConn 61
5 Arizona State 68
1 Richmond 61
2 Miami (FL) 63
2 Miami (FL) 75
7 North Carolina Central 71
2 Miami (FL) 73
6 Alabama 66
3 Illinois^ 58
6 Alabama 79

#3 Illinois played at #6 Alabama due to State Farm Center renovations.

First round
March 17–18 		Second round
March 22–23 		Quarterfinals
March 25
         
1 Temple 73
8 Bucknell 67
1 Temple 90
5 George Washington 77
4 Pittsburgh 54
5 George Washington 60
1 Temple 77
3 Louisiana Tech 59
2 Texas A&M 81
7 Montana 64
2 Texas A&M 72
3 Louisiana Tech 84
3 Louisiana Tech 89
6 Central Michigan 79
First round
March 17–18 		Second round
March 20–22 		Quarterfinals
March 24
         
1 Colorado State 76
8 South Dakota State 86
8 South Dakota State 77
5 Vanderbilt 92
4 Saint Mary's 64
5 Vanderbilt 75
5 Vanderbilt 75
2 Stanford 78
2 Stanford 77
7 UC Davis 64
2 Stanford 74
3 Rhode Island 65
3 Rhode Island 88
6 Iona 75
Semifinals
March 31 		Final
April 2
      
1 Temple 57
2 Miami (FL) 60
2 Miami (FL) 64
2 Stanford 66*
2 Stanford 67
1 Old Dominion 60

* Denotes overtime period

Media

ESPN, Inc. has exclusive television rights to all NIT games. It will telecast every game across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.[3] Since 2011, Westwood One has held exclusive radio rights to the semifinals and championship. In 2015, Dave Ryan and Kelly Tripucka called these games for Westwood One.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Experimental rules to be used during 2015 NIT include 30-second shot clock". NCAA.com. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  2. ^ "'First four out' of NCAA tournament to highlight NIT field of 32 as top seeds". NCAA.com. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  3. ^ Humes, Mike (March 16, 2015). "Men's College Basketball: Exclusive Coverage of Every NIT Game Begins Tuesday". ESPN. Retrieved November 1, 2023.