National Invitational Tournament shrinks field from 32 to 24 teams as NCAA Tournament expansion looms

Changes to the men's National Invitation Tournament and Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament will begin in 2027

Oct 1, 2026 at 12:14 pm ET • 1 min read

The men's National Invitational Tournament will be shrinking from 32 teams to 24 starting in 2027, the NCAA announced on Thursday. The new-look format will see the NIT championship game hosted at Detroit Mercy in Detroit — the site of the 2027 Final Four — on April 4.

The NIT field has been set at 32 teams since 2006, when the bracket shrank from 40 back to the original format that started in 1980. Due to the NCAA Tournament expanding from 68 to 76 teams starting this season — and multiple programs opting out of the NIT entirely over the last several years — the NIT reducing its field seemed inevitable.

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Only four power conference programs competed in the 2026 NIT: Auburn, Cal, Wake Forest and Oklahoma State. Other Power Five programs, such as Seton Hall, Virginia Tech, Belmont, and San Diego State, declined NIT invitations after missing the NCAA Tournament. Last year, Indiana, South Carolina and Wake Forest were among the power conference teams that declined an invite.

NIT field selection changes

How the NIT field is selected will also be different starting next year. Rather than the top 12 conferences receiving exempt bids as in previous iterations of the NIT, exempt bids will now be allocated to programs from the top 10 conferences, based on KenPom's rankings.

Each conference will receive an exempt bid to the NIT, with the highest-ranked eligible team from that respective conference guaranteed a bid. In addition to the exempt bids, the ACC and SEC will also receive one exempt bid to the NIT.

Auburn defeated Tulsa 92-86 in Indianapolis earlier this spring to win the 2026 NIT.

WBIT is also changing

The Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament will also be reduced from 32 teams to 24. The first round of the WBIT will feature eight games, with the winners facing the top eight seeds in the second round. The preliminary rounds will be played at on-campus host sites before moving to Wichita, Kansas, for the semifinals and championship.

The WBIT semifinals and championship will be hosted by Wichita State on March 29 and 31.

In order to be selected for the WBIT, at-large teams will be required to finish with a minimum .500 overall winning percentage. Any team with an average NET and WAB ranking of 100 or better will automatically be placed under consideration to receive a bid. Regular-season conference champions whose average NET and WAB rankings are 110 or better will also receive automatic qualification for the tournament.