The NCAA Tournament has a 68-team format, while the NIT has 32 teams.
How teams qualify
The new changes impact how teams qualify for the tournament.
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Some of the most notable changes are:
• Regular-season conference champions that do not win their conference tournament and do not receive NCAA at-large bids will not receive automatic bids to the NIT.
• The NIT will guarantee two bids to the two top-ranked teams, regardless of win-loss record, in the NCAA Evaluation Tool from each of the six power conferences that do not make the NCAA tournament. The 12 teams selected in this way will host first-round games.
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Experimental rules
The NIT Board and NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee have also agreed to use experimental rules during the 2024 NIT that include:
• The free throw lane will be widened from 12 feet to 16 feet, consistent with the width used by the NBA and FIBA.
• NIT games will continue to use the 2023 NIT modified timeout format for the second half of games, which eliminate the second-half floating media timeout by making it one of five media breaks.
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Dayton’s NIT history
The University of Dayton Flyers have a long tradition with the NIT.
Dayton first appeared in the NIT in 1951, when the Flyers were runners-up. In all, they have played in the NIT 27 times, with titles in 1962, ‘68 and 2010. They have also been runners-up five times.
UD might have played in the NIT last season but chose not to pursue postseason opportunities because of injuries.
