2014 National Invitation Tournament

2014 National Invitation Tournament
Season	2013–14
Teams	32
Finals site	Madison Square Garden; New York City
Champions	Minnesota Golden Gophers (3rd title)
Runner-up	SMU Mustangs (1st title game)
Semifinalists	Clemson Tigers (3rd semifinal); Florida State Seminoles (2nd semifinal);
Winning coach	Richard Pitino (1st title)
MVP	Austin Hollins (Minnesota)
National Invitation Tournaments
«2013	2015»

The 2014 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2014 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament started on campus sites for the first three rounds, with the Final 4 and championship game being held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The tournament began on Tuesday, March 18 and ended on Thursday, April 3. Minnesota won this tournament after being the third Big Ten team in a row to make the NIT Finals (the two previous years a Big Ten team had lost the final game).

Participants

Automatic qualifiers

The following teams earned automatic berths into the 2014 NIT field having won their respective conference's regular season championship, but failing to win their conference tournament.

Conference	Team	Record	Appearance	Last bid
Belmont	Ohio Valley	24–9	2nd	2004
Boston University	Patriot	24–10	6th	2005
Davidson	Southern	20–12	6th	2009
Florida Gulf Coast	Atlantic Sun	22–12	1st	Never
Georgia State	Sun Belt	25–8	2nd	2002
Green Bay	Horizon	24–6	3rd	1992
High Point	Big South	16–14	1st	Never
Iona	MAAC	22–10	5th	1997
Louisiana Tech	C-USA	27–7	8th	2013
Robert Morris	Northeast	21–13	3rd	2013
UC Irvine	Big West	23–11	5th	2002
Utah Valley	WAC	20–11	1st	Never
Vermont	America East	22–10	3rd	2011

Southern from the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) was the league regular-season champion and lost in their conference tournament but is ineligible for the NIT due to Academic Progress Rate (APR) sanctions.^[1] No team from the SWAC received an NIT autobid.^{[citation needed]}

Arizona (Pac-12), Cincinnati (American), Kansas (Big 12), Michigan (Big Ten), Saint Louis (Atlantic 10), San Diego State (Mountain West) and Villanova (Big East) received automatic bids to the NIT, but did not accept them as they were selected as at-large teams in the 2014 NCAA tournament.

At-large bids

The following 19 teams were also awarded NIT berths.

Team	Conference	Record	Appearance	Last bid
Arkansas	SEC	21–11	3rd	1997
California	Pac-12	19–13	8th	2011
Clemson	ACC	20–12	15th	2007
Florida State	ACC	19–13	9th	2013
Georgetown	Big East	17–14	12th	2009
Georgia	SEC	19–13	12th	2007
Illinois	Big Ten	19–14	5th	2010
Indiana State	Missouri Valley	23–10	4th	2013
LSU	SEC	19–13	7th	2012
Minnesota	Big Ten	20–13	15th	2012
Missouri	SEC	22–11	8th	2005
Saint Mary's	West Coast	22–11	3rd	2011
San Francisco	West Coast	21–11	6th	2005
SMU	American	23–9	3rd	2000
Southern Miss	C-USA	27–6	10th	2013
St. John's	Big East	20–12	30th	2013
Toledo	MAC	27–6	8th	2007
Utah	Pac-12	21–11	16th	2001
West Virginia	Big 12	17–15	16th	2007

Seeds

SMU Bracket
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type
1	SMU	American	23–9	At-large
2	California	Pac-12	19–13	At-large
3	Arkansas	SEC	21–11	At-large
4	San Francisco	West Coast	21–11	At-large
5	LSU	SEC	19–13	At-large
6	Indiana State	MVC	23–10	At-large
7	Utah Valley	WAC	20–11	Automatic
8	UC Irvine	Big West	23–11	Automatic

St. John's Bracket
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type
1	St. John's	Big East	20–12	At-large
2	Illinois	Big Ten	19–14	At-large
3	Clemson	ACC	20–12	At-large
4	Green Bay	Horizon	24–6	Automatic
5	Belmont	Ohio Valley	24–9	Automatic
6	Georgia State	Sun Belt	25–8	Automatic
7	Boston University	Patriot	24–10	Automatic
8	Robert Morris	Northeast	21–13	Automatic

Florida State Bracket
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type
1	Florida State	ACC	19–13	At-large
2	Georgia	SEC	19–13	At-large
3	Louisiana Tech	C-USA	27–7	Automatic
4	Georgetown	Big East	17–14	At-large
5	West Virginia	Big 12	17–15	At-large
6	Iona	MAAC	22–10	Automatic
7	Vermont	America East	22–10	Automatic
8	Florida Gulf Coast	Atlantic Sun	22–12	Automatic

Minnesota Bracket
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type
1	Minnesota	Big Ten	20–13	At-large
2	Missouri	SEC	22–11	At-large
3	Southern Miss	C-USA	27–6	At-large
4	Saint Mary's	West Coast	22–11	At-large
5	Utah	Pac-12	21–11	At-large
6	Toledo	MAC	27–6	At-large
7	Davidson	Southern	20–12	Automatic
8	High Point	Big South	16–14	Automatic

Bracket

Games are played at higher seed unless noted.

First round March 18–19			Second round March 24			Quarterfinals March 26

1	SMU	68

8	UC Irvine	54
			1	SMU	80

			5	LSU	67
4	San Francisco	63

5	LSU	71
						1	SMU	67

						2	California	65
2	California	77

7	Utah Valley	64
			2	California	75

			3	Arkansas	64
3	Arkansas	91

6	Indiana State	71

First round March 18–19			Second round March 21, 23			Quarterfinals March 25

1	St. John's	78

8	Robert Morris	89
			8	Robert Morris	71

			5	Belmont	82
4	Green Bay	65

5	Belmont	80
						5	Belmont	68

						3	Clemson	73
2	Illinois	66

7	Boston University	62
			2	Illinois	49

			3	Clemson	50
3	Clemson	78

6	Georgia State	66

*#2 Illinois played at #7 Boston University and at #3 Clemson due to State Farm Center renovations.

First round March 18–19			Second round March 23			Quarterfinals March 25

1	Minnesota	88

8	High Point	81
			1	Minnesota	63

			4	Saint Mary's	55
4	Saint Mary's	70

5	Utah	58
						1	Minnesota	81

						3	Southern Miss	73
2	Missouri	85

7	Davidson	77
			2	Missouri	63

			3	Southern Miss	71
3	Southern Miss	66

6	Toledo	59

First round March 18–19			Second round March 22, 24			Quarterfinals March 26

1	Florida State	58

8	Florida Gulf Coast	53
			1	Florida State	101

			4	Georgetown	90
4	Georgetown	77

5	West Virginia	65
						1	Florida State	78

						3	Louisiana Tech	75
2	Georgia	63

7	Vermont	56
			2	Georgia	71

			3	Louisiana Tech	79
3	Louisiana Tech	89

6	Iona	88

Semifinals April 1			Final April 3

1	SMU	65

3	Clemson	59
			1	SMU	63

			1	Minnesota	65
1	Minnesota	67^OT

1	Florida State	64

Media

ESPN has exclusive television rights to all NIT games. They aired every single game across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.^[2] Since 2011 Westwood One has held exclusive radio rights to the semifinals and championship. In 2014, John Tautges and Kelly Tripucka called these games for Westwood One.^[3]

References

^ Katz, Andy (March 1, 2014). "NCAA gives SWAC exemption". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
^ Humes, Mike (March 17, 2014). "Men's College Basketball: Exclusive Coverage of Every NIT Game across ESPN Networks". ESPN Media Zone. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
^ "2014 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Semifinals & Championship TV & Radio Schedule". Eye on Sky and Air Sports. March 29, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2014.

[1] Katz, Andy (March 1, 2014). "NCAA gives SWAC exemption". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 4, 2023.

[Television_Rights-2] Humes, Mike (March 17, 2014). "Men's College Basketball: Exclusive Coverage of Every NIT Game across ESPN Networks". ESPN Media Zone. Retrieved November 4, 2023.

[Radio_Rights-3] "2014 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Semifinals & Championship TV & Radio Schedule". Eye on Sky and Air Sports. March 29, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2014.

[1]

[2]

[3]