2010 National Invitation Tournament

2010 National Invitation Tournament

Season	2009–10
Teams	32
Finals site	Madison Square Garden New York City
Champions	Dayton Flyers (3rd title)
Runner-up	North Carolina Tar Heels (2nd title game)
Semifinalists	Ole Miss Rebels (2nd semifinal) Rhode Island Rams (3rd semifinal)
Winning coach	Brian Gregory (1st title)
MVP	Chris Johnson (Dayton)
National Invitation Tournaments «2009 2011»

The 2010 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The 73rd annual tournament began on March 16 on campus sites and ended on April 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Dayton won their 3rd NIT title (first title since 1968) over North Carolina, 79–68.

Participants

Automatic qualifiers

The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2010 NIT field after losing in their respective conference tournaments, by virtue of winning their conferences' regular season championship and not qualifying for the NCAA tournament.

Team	Conference	Record	Appearance	Last bid
Coastal Carolina	Big South	28–6	1st	Never
Jackson State	SWAC	19–12	2nd	1993
Jacksonville*	Atlantic Sun	19–12	6th	2009
Kent State	MAC	23–9	8th	2005
Quinnipiac	Northeast	23–9	1st	Never
Stony Brook	America East	22–9	1st	Never
Troy	Sun Belt	20–12	2nd	2004
Weber State	Big Sky	20–10	3rd	2009

*Jacksonville split the Atlantic Sun regular season title with Campbell, Lipscomb and Belmont, but the conference tournament was won by fifth-seeded East Tennessee State. The Dolphins earned the automatic NIT bid by advancing the furthest of the four in the Atlantic Sun tournament even though Lipscomb was the #1 seed in the tournament.

The entire 32-team field was announced on March 14, 2010, on The NIT Selection Show at 9 pm ET on ESPNU.

Seedings

Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Illinois Big Ten 19–14 At-large 2 Cincinnati Big East 18–15 At-large 3 Dayton Atlantic 10 20–12 At-large 4 Kent State MAC 23–9 Automatic 5 Tulsa C-USA 23–11 At-large 6 Illinois State MVC 22–10 At-large 7 Weber State Big Sky 20–10 Automatic 8 Stony Brook America East 22–9 Automatic	Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Arizona State Pac-10 22–10 At-large 2 Mississippi SEC 21–10 At-large 3 Memphis C-USA 23–9 At-large 4 Seton Hall Big East 19–12 At-large 5 Texas Tech Big 12 17–15 At-large 6 St. John's Big East 17–15 At-large 7 Troy Sun Belt 20–12 Automatic 8 Jacksonville Atlantic Sun 19–12 Automatic
Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Virginia Tech ACC 23–8 At-large 2 Rhode Island Atlantic 10 23–9 At-large 3 Wichita State MVC 25–9 At-large 4 Connecticut Big East 17–15 At-large 5 Northeastern CAA 20–12 At-large 6 Nevada WAC 20-12 At-large 7 Northwestern Big Ten 20–13 At-large 8 Quinnipiac NEC 23–9 Automatic	Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Mississippi State SEC 23–11 At-large 2 UAB C-USA 23–8 At-large 3 South Florida Big East 20–12 At-large 4 North Carolina ACC 16–16 At-large 5 William & Mary CAA 22–10 At-large 6 NC State ACC 19–15 At-large 7 Coastal Carolina Big South 28–6 Automatic 8 Jackson State SWAC 19–12 Automatic

Bracket

Played on the home court of the higher-seeded team (except #1 Illinois in the first round)

Illinois bracket

	First round March 17					Second round March 22					Quarterfinals March 24
	1	Illinois	76
	8	Stony Brook	66
						1	Illinois	75
						4	Kent State	58
	4	Kent State	75
	5	Tulsa	74
											1	Illinois	71
											3	Dayton	77
	3	Dayton	63
	6	Illinois State	42
						3	Dayton	81
						2	Cincinnati	66
	2	Cincinnati	76
	7	Weber State	62

Arizona State bracket

	First round March 16–17					Second round March 19–20					Quarterfinals March 23
	1	Arizona State	66
	8	Jacksonville	67
						8	Jacksonville	64
						5	Texas Tech	69
	4	Seton Hall	69
	5	Texas Tech	87
											5	Texas Tech	87
											2	Mississippi (2OT)	90
	3	Memphis	73
	6	St. John's	71
						3	Memphis	81
						2	Mississippi	90
	2	Mississippi	84
	7	Troy	65

Virginia Tech bracket

	First round March 16, 17					Second round March 22					Quarterfinals March 24
	1	Virginia Tech	81
	8	Quinnipiac	61
						1	Virginia Tech	65
						4	Connecticut	63
	4	Connecticut	59
	5	Northeastern	57
											1	Virginia Tech	72
											2	Rhode Island	79
	3	Wichita State	70
	6	Nevada	74
						6	Nevada	83
						2	Rhode Island	85
	2	Rhode Island	76
	7	Northwestern	64

First round

ESPN2

March 16 7:00 pm ET

Recap

(5) Northeastern 57, (4) Connecticut 59
Scoring by half: 26–34, 31–25
Pts: Matt Janning 17 Rebs: Nkem Ojougboh 7 Asts: Matt Janning 4 Blocks: Nkem Ojougboh 2		Pts: Jerome Dyson 18 Rebs: Alex Oriakhi 9 Asts: Jerome Dyson 4 Blocks: Alex Oriakhi 2

Harry S. Gampel Pavilion Attendance: 5,571 Referees: Mike Stephens, Bryan Kersey, John Gaffney

Second round

ESPN

March 22 7:00 pm ET

Recap

(4) Connecticut 63, (1) Virginia Tech 65
Scoring by half: 35–30, 28–35
Pts: Kemba Walker 18 Rebs: Stanley Robinson 8 Asts: Kemba Walker 4 Blocks: Ater Majok, Charles Okwandu 2		Pts: Dorenzo Hudson 27 Rebs: Dorenzo Hudson 7 Asts: Malcom Delaney 9 Blocks: Terrell Bell 2

Cassell Pavilion Attendance: 6,983 Referees: Karl Hess, Doug Shows, Jeff Anderson

Mississippi State bracket

	First round March 16					Second round March 20					Quarterfinals March 23
	1	Mississippi State	81
	8	Jackson State	67
						1	Mississippi State	74
						4	North Carolina	76
	4	North Carolina	80
	5	William & Mary	72
											4	North Carolina	60
											2	UAB	55
	3	South Florida	57
	6	NC State	58
						6	NC State	52
						2	UAB	72
	2	UAB	65
	7	Coastal Carolina	49

NIT Final Four

Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City

	Semifinals March 30					Championship April 1
	3	Dayton	68
	2	Mississippi	63
						3	Dayton	79
						4	North Carolina	68
	2	Rhode Island	67
	4	North Carolina (OT)	68

Broadcasters

Local Radio

Teams	Flagship station	Play-by-play	Analyst
Connecticut	WTIC–AM	Joe D'Ambrosio	Wayne Norman
NC State	WRAL–FM/Wolfpack Sports Network	Gary Hahn	Tony Haynes
North Carolina	Leafield/Tar Heel Sports Network	Woody Durham	Eric Montross

See also

• 2010 Women's National Invitation Tournament
• 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 2010 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 2010 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
• 2010 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 2010 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 2010 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
• 2010 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 2010 NAIA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 2010 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 2010 NAIA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 2010 College Basketball Invitational
• 2010 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament