2011 National Invitation Tournament

2011 National Invitation Tournament
Season	2010–11
Teams	32
Finals site	Madison Square Garden New York City
Champions	Wichita State (1st title)
Runner-up	Alabama (2nd title game)
Semifinalists	Colorado (4th semifinal) Washington State (1st semifinal)
Winning coach	Gregg Marshall (1st title)
MVP	Graham Hatch Wichita State
National Invitation Tournaments «2010 2012»

The 2011 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. The 74th annual tournament began March 15 on campus sites ended on March 31 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Wichita State defeated Alabama, 66-57, to win its first NIT title.

Participants

Automatic qualifiers

The following teams are automatic qualifiers for the 2011 NIT field; by virtue of winning their conferences' regular season championship and not qualifying for the NCAA Tournament as an "at-large" bid.

Conference	School
MEAC	Bethune-Cookman
Big South	Coastal Carolina
Southern	College of Charleston
MAAC	Fairfield
Sun Belt	Florida Atlantic
Big West	Long Beach State
MAC	Kent State
Southland	McNeese State
Missouri Valley	Missouri State
Horizon	Milwaukee
Ohio Valley	Murray State
West Coast	Saint Mary's
SWAC	Texas Southern
America East	Vermont

Seeds

Alabama Bracket Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Alabama SEC 21–11 At-large 2 Miami (FL) ACC 19–14 At-large 3 Missouri State MVC 25–8 Automatic 4 New Mexico MWC 21–12 At-large 5 UTEP C-USA 25–9 At-large 6 Murray State OVC 23–8 Automatic 7 Florida Atlantic Sun Belt 21–10 Automatic 8 Coastal Carolina Big South 28–5 Automatic	Colorado Bracket Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Colorado Big 12 21–13 At–large 2 St. Mary's WCC 25–8 Automatic 3 Colorado State MWC 19–12 At-large 4 California Pac-10 17–14 At–large 5 Mississippi SEC 20–13 At-large 6 Fairfield MAAC 24–7 Automatic 7 Kent State MAC 23–11 Automatic 8 Texas Southern SWAC 19–12 Automatic
Boston College Bracket Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Boston College ACC 20–12 At-large 2 Washington State Pac-10 19–12 At-large 3 Oklahoma State Big 12 19–13 At-large 4 Northwestern Big Ten 18–13 At-large 5 Milwaukee Horizon 19–13 Automatic 6 Harvard Ivy 23–6 At-large 7 Long Beach State Big West 22–11 Automatic 8 McNeese State Southland 21–11 Automatic	Virginia Tech Bracket Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Virginia Tech ACC 21–11 At-large 2 Cleveland State Horizon 26–8 At-large 3 Dayton A-10 22–13 At-large 4 Wichita State MVC 24–8 At-large 5 Nebraska Big 12 19–12 At-large 6 College of Charleston SoCon 24–10 Automatic 7 Vermont America East 23–8 Automatic 8 Bethune-Cookman MEAC 21–12 Automatic

Bracket

Played on the home court of the higher-seeded team.
(except #1 Boston College & #3 Dayton in the first round)
* – Denotes overtime

Alabama bracket

	First round March 15–16					Second round March 18–21					Quarterfinals March 23
	1	Alabama	68
	8	Coastal Carolina	44
						1	Alabama	74
						4	New Mexico	67
	4	New Mexico	69
	5	UTEP	57
											1	Alabama	79
											2	Miami (FL)	64
	3	Missouri State	89
	6	Murray State	76
						3	Missouri State	72
						2	Miami (FL)	81
	2	Miami (FL)	85
	7	Florida Atlantic	62

Colorado bracket

	First round March 15–16					Second round March 18–21					Quarterfinals March 22
	1	Colorado	88
	8	Texas Southern	74
						1	Colorado	89
						4	California	72
	4	California	77
	5	Mississippi	74
											1	Colorado	81
											7	Kent State	74
	3	Colorado State	60
	6	Fairfield	62
						6	Fairfield	68
						7	Kent State	72
	2	Saint Mary's	70
	7	Kent State	71

Boston College bracket

	First round March 15–16					Second round March 18–21					Quarterfinals March 23
	1	Boston College	82
	8	McNeese State	64
						1	Boston College	67
						4	Northwestern	85
	4	Northwestern	70
	5	Milwaukee	61
											4	Northwestern	66
											2	Washington State	69*
	3	Oklahoma State	71
	6	Harvard	54
						3	Oklahoma State	64
						2	Washington State	74
	2	Washington State	85
	7	Long Beach State	74

Virginia Tech bracket

	First round March 15–16					Second round March 18–21					Quarterfinals March 23
	1	Virginia Tech	79
	8	Bethune-Cookman	54
						1	Virginia Tech	76
						4	Wichita State	79*
	4	Wichita State	76
	5	Nebraska	49
											4	Wichita State	82
											6	Coll. of Charleston	75
	3	Dayton	84
	6	Coll. of Charleston	94
						6	Coll. of Charleston	64
						2	Cleveland State	56
	2	Cleveland State	63
	7	Vermont	60

NIT Final Four

Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City

	Semifinals March 29					Championship March 31
	1	Alabama	62
	1	Colorado	61
						1	Alabama	57
						4	Wichita State	66
	2	Washington State	44
	4	Wichita State	75

See also

• 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
• 2011 College Basketball Invitational
• 2011 CollegeInsider.com Tournament
• 2011 Women's National Invitation Tournament
• 2011 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
• 2011 NAIA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament

References

External links

• Official NIT site