NIT bracket 2021: The full field revealed

The 2021 men’s NCAA tournament bracket is out, and now the men’s NIT field has been announced, too. While the tournament typically ends at Madison Square Garden, this year a reduced field will play its games in Denton and Frisco, Texas.

The National Invitation Tournament will start on March 17 and end on March 28. The tournament usually includes 32 teams, but this year it’s only a 16-team field because of the pandemic. While there have previously been automatic qualifiers at the NIT for regular season conference champions who didn’t make the NCAA tournament, this year’s field will be made up entirely of at-large bids. The NIT will also include a third round game this year, which hasn’t happened 2003.

The NCAA tournament has a 48-hour window to replace teams who can’t meet medical protocol after the bracket is announced, which could further complicate the NIT field. Seton Hall, St. John’s, and Baylor are among the teams who chose to skip the NIT this year because of the pandemic.

The No. 1 seeds will play the No. 4 seeds int he first round, while the No. 2 seeds will play the No. 3 seeds. Here’s the field for the NIT right now.

Upper Left

No. 1 Colorado State

No. 2 Davidson

No. 3 NC State

No. 4 Buffalo

Lower Left

No. 1 Memphis

No. 2 Boise State

No. 3 SMU

No. 4 Dayton

Upper Right

No. 1 Saint Louis

No. 2 Richmond

No. 3 Toledo

No. 4 Mississippi State

Lower Right

No. 1 Ole Miss

No. 2 Saint Mary’s

No. 3 Western Kentucky

No. 4 Louisiana Tech

Here are the first four teams out of the NIT:

All games will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN2, and streamed on Watch ESPN. Here’s the schedule for the event.

First Round: March 17-20

Quarterfinals: March 25

Semifinals: March 27

Third place game: March 28

Championship: March 28