List of NIT Champions

List of NIT Champions

The first National Invitation Tournament (NIT) took place in 1938, one year before the first NCAA Tournament. Founded by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association, the NIT was originally considered to be the more prestigious of the two major postseason tournaments in men’s college basketball. Over time, the NCAA Tournament became more popular and prestigious and the NIT is now considered to be somewhat of a “consolation” event. Currently, the NIT invites 32 teams that were not selected for the NCAA Tournament to fill out the field. The selection process is similar to that of the NCAA Tournament in that the resumes of potential teams are considered based on their success during the season. Teams that win their conference regular season title but fail to both win their conference tournament or receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament are automatically invited to the NIT. The structure differs from the NCAA in that only the Semifinals and Finals are held at a neutral court, while all other rounds are played at the arena of the home team. Through 2022, the Semifinals and Finals were held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, but since 2023 the location has rotated like the NCAA Tournament Final Four. Below is a list of NIT Champions, runners-up and their head coaches, presented by our sponsors:

Year NIT Champion / Head Coach Runner-Up / Head Coach
1938 Temple Colorado
James Usilton Frosty Cox
1939 Long Island Loyola (IL)
Clair Bee Lenny Sachs
1940 Colorado Duquesne
Frosty Cox Chick Davies
1941 Long Island (2) Ohio
Clair Bee (2) William Trautwein
1942 West Virginia Western Kentucky State
Dyke Raese E.A. Diddle
1943 St. John’s Toledo
Joe Lapchick Burl Friddle
1944 St. John’s (2) DePaul
Joe Lapchick (2) Ray Meyer
1945 DePaul Bowling Green
Ray Meyer Harold Anderson
1946 Kentucky Rhode Island
Adolph Rupp Frank Keaney
1947 Utah Kentucky
Vadal Peterson Adolph Rupp
1948 Saint Louis NYU
Eddie Hickey Howard Cann
1949 San Francisco Loyola (IL)
Pete Newell Thomas Haggerty
1950 CCNY Bradley
Nat Holman Forddy Anderson
1951 BYU Dayton
Stan Watts Tom Blackburn
1952 La Salle Dayton
Ken Loeffler Tom Blackburn
1953 Seton Hall St. John’s
John Russell Dusty DeStafano
1954 Holy Cross Duquesne
Buster Sheary Dudey Moore
1955 Duquesne Dayton
Dudey Moore Tom Blackburn
1956 Louisville Dayton
Peck Hickman Tom Blackburn
1957 Bradley Memphis State
Chuck Orsborn Bob Vanatta
1958 Xavier Dayton
Jim McCafferty Tom Blackburn
1959 St. John’s (3) Bradley
Joe Lapchick (3) Chuck Orsborn
1960 Bradley (2) Providence
Chuck Orsborn (2) Joe Mullaney
1961 Providence Saint Louis
Joe Mullaney John E. Benington
1962 Dayton St. John’s
Tom Blackburn Joe Lapchick
1963 Providence (2) Canisius
Joe Mullaney (2) Bob MacKinnon
1964 Bradley (3) New Mexico
Chuck Orsborn (3) Bob King
1965 St. John’s (4) Villanova
Joe Lapchick (4) Jack Kraft
1966 BYU (2) NYU
Stan Watts (2) Lou Rossini
1967 Southern Illinois Marquette
Jack Hartman Al McGuire
1968 Dayton (2) Kansas
Don Donoher Ted Owens
1969 Temple (2) Boston College
Harry Litwack Bob Cousy
1970 Marquette St. John’s
Al McGuire Lou Carnesecca
1971 North Carolina Georgia Tech
Dean Smith John “Whack” Hyder
1972 Maryland Niagara
Lefty Driesell Frank Layden
1973 Virginia Tech Notre Dame
Don DeVoe Digger Phelps
1974 Purdue Utah
Fred Schaus Bill E. Foster
1975 Princeton Providence
Pete Carril Dave Gavitt
1976 Kentucky (2) Charlotte
Joe B. Hall Lee Rose
1977 St. Bonaventure Houston
Jim Satalin Guy Lewis
1978 Texas NC State
Abe Lemons Norm Sloan
1979 Indiana Purdue
Bob Knight Lee Rose
1980 Virginia Minnesota
Terry Holland Jim Dutcher
1981 Tulsa Syracuse
Nolan Richardson Jim Boeheim
1982 Bradley (4) Purdue
Dick Versace Gene Keady
1983 Fresno State DePaul
Boyd Grant Ray Meyer
1984 Michigan Notre Dame
Bill Frieder Digger Phelps
1985 UCLA Indiana
Walt Hazzard Bob Knight
1986 Ohio State Wyoming
Eldon Miller Jim Brandenburg
1987 Southern Miss La Salle
M. K. Turk Speedy Morris
1988 Connecticut Ohio State
Jim Calhoun Gary Williams
1989 St. John’s (5) Saint Louis
Lou Carnesecca Rich Grawer
1990 Vanderbilt Saint Louis
Eddie Fogler Rich Grawer
1991 Stanford Oklahoma
Mike Montgomery Billy Tubbs
1992 Virginia (2) Notre Dame
Jeff Jones John MacLeod
1993 Minnesota Georgetown
Clem Haskins John Thompson
1994 Villanova Vanderbilt
Steve Lappas Jan van Breda Kolff
1995 Virginia Tech (2) Marquette
Bill C. Foster Mike Deane
1996 Nebraska Saint Joseph’s
Danny Nee Phil Martelli
1997 ** (vacated) Florida State
(vacated) Pat Kennedy
1998 ** (vacated) Penn State
(vacated) Jerry Dunn
1999 California Clemson
Ben Braun Larry Shyatt
2000 Wake Forest Notre Dame
Dave Odom Matt Doherty
2001 Tulsa (2) Alabama
Buzz Peterson Mark Gottfried
2002 Memphis South Carolina
John Calipari Dave Odom
2003 ** (vacated) Georgetown
(vacated) Craig Esherick
2004 Michigan (2) Rutgers
Tommy Amaker Gary Waters
2005 South Carolina Saint Joseph’s
Dave Odom (2) Phil Martelli
2006 South Carolina (2) Michigan
Dave Odom (3) Tommy Amaker
2007 West Virginia (2) Clemson
John Beilein Oliver Purnell
2008 Ohio State (2) UMass
Thad Matta Travis Ford
2009 Penn State Baylor
Ed DeChellis Scott Drew
2010 Dayton (3) North Carolina
Brian Gregory Roy Williams
2011 Wichita State Alabama
Gregg Marshall Anthony Grant
2012 Stanford (2) Minnesota
Johnny Dawkins Tubby Smith
2013 Baylor Iowa
Scott Drew Fran McCaffery
2014 Minnesota (2) SMU
Richard Pitino Larry Brown
2015 Stanford (3) Miami (FL)
Johnny Dawkins (2) Jim Larrañaga
2016 George Washington Valparaiso
Mike Lonergan Bryce Drew
2017 TCU Georgia Tech
Jamie Dixon Josh Pastner
2018 Penn State (2) Utah
Pat Chambers Larry Krystkowiak
2019 Texas (2) Lipscomb
Shaka Smart Casey Alexander
2020
tournament cancelled
due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021
Memphis (2) Mississippi State
Penny Hardaway Ben Howland
2022
Xavier (2) Texas A&M
Jonas Hayes Buzz Williams
2023 North Texas UAB
Grant McCasland Andy Kennedy
2024
Seton Hall (2) Indiana State
Shaheen Holloway Josh Schertz
2025
   

** these NIT titles were later vacated by the NCAA; 1997 had been won by Michigan, 1998 by Minnesota and 2003 by St. John’s

 

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