NIT, WBIT cutting down to 24 teams in wake of expanded NCAA tournaments

In the aftermath of the NCAA tournaments expanding to 76 teams, the NIT and Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament will drop from 32 teams to 24 beginning in 2027, the NCAA announced Thursday.

The NCAA will tweak the selection process for both secondary postseason tournaments. The men's field will guarantee a bid to each of the top 10 conferences according to Ken Pomeroy's rankings as well as one bid each for the ACC and SEC.

Those bids will go to teams based on an average of a number of rating systems, including ESPN's Basketball Power Index, and those 12 teams will be offered the chance to host at least one game.

For the WBIT, teams must have at least a .500 record to be eligible for selection, with the NCAA Evaluation Tool and Wins Above Bubble serving as primary factors in consideration.

The teams identified as the "First Four Out" for the NCAA tournament will receive No. 1 seeds in the NIT and WBIT.

All NIT games will take place at campus sites until the final, which for the second straight year will be held around the NCAA Final Four. This season, the NIT final will take place at Detroit Mercy on April 4, a day before the NCAA championship game at Ford Field.

The WBIT semifinals and final will be played at Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas, on March 29 and 31.

The NCAA announced in May that the men's and women's basketball tournaments would go from 68 teams to 76. It is the first time the men's tournament has expanded since 2011 and the first time the women's tournament has expanded since 2022.

The NIT and WBIT fields will be announced March 14 after the Selection Sunday reveals of the 76-team brackets.