2007 National Invitation Tournament Explained

Type:	NIT
Year:	2007
Teams:	32
Finalfourarena:	Madison Square Garden
Finalfourcity:	New York City
Champions:	West Virginia Mountaineers
Titlecount:	2nd
Runnerup:	Clemson Tigers
Gamecount:	2nd
Semifinal1:	Air Force Falcons
Semifinalcount:	1st
Semifinal2:	Mississippi State Bulldogs
Semifinalcount2:	1st
Coach:	John Beilein
Coachcount:	1st
Mop:	Frank Young
Mopteam:	West Virginia

The 2007 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams which did not participate in the 2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The West Virginia University Mountaineers won the 2007 NIT.

The participating teams were selected by the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) selection committee using numerous resources such as computer rankings, results (head-to-head, chronological, last 10 games played, non-conference), and polls.^[1] The first round, second round, and quarterfinal games are held at the home court of the higher seed. The semifinal and final round are played at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The 32 participating teams were announced on March 11, 2007.^[2] This is the first time since the NIT began seeding that all of the #1 seeds made the Final Four. Not only that, but both of the semifinal matches between the #1 seeds were one point games.

Selected teams

Automatic qualifiers

The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2007 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	data-sort-type="number"	Appearance	Last bid
	Ohio Valley	21–11	2nd	2004
	MEAC	21–12	2nd	2006
	Atlantic Sun	24–9	2nd	1983
Marist	MAAC	24–8	2nd	1996
	SWAC	18–15	1st	Never
South Alabama	Sun Belt	20–11	5th	2001
	MAC	23–9	7th	2004
	America East	25–7	1st	Never

Thirty-two NCAA Division I teams participated in the 2007 NIT, reduced from the prior years' 40.^[3] Teams are chosen by the NIT selection committee based on numerous resources, including "computer rankings, head-to-head results, chronological results, Division I results, non-conference results, home and away results, results in the last 10 games, polls and the coaches' regional advisory committee's rankings".^[1] The teams are then seeded according to the NIT's procedures for seeding teams. The teams are then placed into four regions: East, South, West, and North.^{[1] [4]}

valign=top	East Region Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 West Virginia Big East 22–9 At-large bid 2 Big 12 22–12 At-large bid 3 Drexel CAA 23–8 At-large bid 4 UMass A-10 23–8 At-large bid 5 Alabama SEC 20–11 At-large bid 6 ACC 18–15 At-large bid 7 Marist MAAC 24–8 Automatic 8 MEAC 21–12 Automatic	valign=top	South Region Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Clemson ACC 21–10 At-large bid 2 Syracuse Big East 22–10 At-large bid 3 MVC 22–10 At-large bid 4 SEC 20–12 At-large bid 5 SoCon 25–7 At-large bid 6 MWC 21–10 At-large bid 7 South Alabama Sun Belt 20–11 Automatic 8 A-Sun 24–9 Automatic
valign=top	West Region Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 MWC 23–8 At-large bid 2 Kansas State Big 12 22–11 At-large bid 3 Big East 18–13 At-large bid 4 SEC 18–13 At-large bid 5 WAC 22–9 At-large bid 6 CAA 22–9 At-large bid 7 America East 25–7 Automatic 8 OVC 21–11 Automatic	valign=top	North Region Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Mississippi State SEC 18–13 At-large bid 2 ACC 20–12 At-large bid 3 Michigan Big Ten 21–12 At-large bid 4 MVC 21–12 At-large bid 5 Big East 18–12 At-large bid 6 WAC 23–11 At-large bid 7 MAC 19–12 Automatic 8 SWAC 18–15 Automatic

First round

The first round took place on March 13, 2007, and March 14, 2007. The higher-seeded team hosted each game.^[2]

March 13, 2007
Region	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
North	Mississippi State Bulldogs	82–63	Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils	Humphrey Coliseum – Starkville, MS
North	Michigan Wolverines	68–58	Utah State Aggies	Crisler Arena – Ann Arbor, MI
North	Florida State Seminoles	77–61	Toledo Rockets	Donald L. Tucker Center – Tallahassee, FL
East	West Virginia Mountaineers	74–50	Delaware State Hornets	WVU Coliseum – Morgantown, WV
East	Massachusetts Minutemen	89–87	Alabama Crimson Tide	Mullins Center – Amherst, MA
East	Drexel Dragons	56–63	NC State Wolfpack	Daskalakis Athletic Center – Philadelphia, PA
East	Oklahoma State Cowboys	64–67	Marist Red Foxes	Gallagher-Iba Arena – Stillwater, OK

March 14, 2007
Region	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
North	Bradley Braves	90–78	Providence Friars	Carver Arena – Peoria, IL
West	Air Force Falcons	75–51	Austin Peay Governors	Clune Arena – Colorado Springs, CO
West	Georgia Bulldogs	88–78	Fresno State Bulldogs	Stegeman Coliseum – Athens, GA
West	DePaul Blue Demons	83–71	Hofstra Pride	McGrath Arena – Chicago, IL^[5] ^[6]
West	Kansas State Wildcats	59–57	Vermont Catamounts	Bramlage Coliseum – Manhattan, KS
South	Clemson Tigers	64–57	East Tennessee State Buccaneers	Littlejohn Coliseum – Clemson, SC
South	Ole Miss Rebels	73–59	Appalachian State Mountaineers	Tad Smith Coliseum – Oxford, MS
South	Missouri State Bears	70–74	San Diego State Aztecs	Hammons Student Center – Springfield, MO
South	Syracuse Orange	79–73	South Alabama Jaguars	Carrier Dome – Syracuse, NY

Second round

The second round took place March 15, 2007, through March 19, 2007. The higher-seeded team hosted the game.^[2]

Second Round
Date	Region	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
3/15	North	Florida State Seminoles	87–66	Michigan Wolverines	Donald L. Tucker Center – Tallahassee, FL
3/15	East	West Virginia Mountaineers	90–77	Massachusetts Minutemen	WVU Coliseum – Morgantown, WV
3/16	East	NC State Wolfpack	69–62	Marist Red Foxes	Reynolds Coliseum – Raleigh, NC*|-|3/17|North|Mississippi State Bulldogs|101–72|Bradley Braves|Humphrey Coliseum – Starkville, MS|-|3/19|West|Air Force Falcons|83–52|Georgia Bulldogs|Clune Arena – Colorado Springs, CO|-|3/19|West|Kansas State Wildcats|65–70|DePaul Blue Demons|Bramlage Coliseum – Manhattan, KS|-|3/19|South|Clemson Tigers|89–68|Ole Miss Rebels|Littlejohn Coliseum – Clemson, SC|-|3/19|South|Syracuse Orange|80–64|San Diego State Aztecs|Carrier Dome – Syracuse, NY**|}*Under normal circumstances, the RBC Center would be used as NC State's home court, but a concert was scheduled that night at that facility, forcing the Wolfpack to use their older arena (still regularly in use for women's basketball), Reynolds Coliseum. **A new attendance record for a NIT game was set at the Syracuse–San Diego State game in the Carrier Dome. Syracuse won the game 80–64 with the attendance total of 26,752.The old record of 23,522 was set by Kentucky in 1979. Quarterfinals The quarterfinals round took place March 20, 2007, and March 21, 2007. (March 22 was reserved as a backup date in case of scheduling conflicts, but none arose.) The higher-seeded team hosted each game. Quarterfinals Date Region Home Team Score Away Team Venue 3/20 East West Virginia Mountaineers 71–66 NC State Wolfpack WVU Coliseum – Morgantown, WV 3/20 North Mississippi State Bulldogs 86–71 Florida State Seminoles Humphrey Coliseum – Starkville, MS 3/21 West Air Force Falcons 52–51 DePaul Blue Demons Clune Arena – Colorado Springs, CO 3/21 South Clemson Tigers 74–70 Syracuse Orange Littlejohn Coliseum – Clemson, SC Semifinals The semifinals round took place March 27, 2007 at Madison Square Garden. Semifinals Date Winner Score Opponent Venue 3/27 West Virginia Mountaineers 63–62 Mississippi State Bulldogs Madison Square Garden – New York, NY 3/27 Clemson Tigers 68–67 Air Force Falcons Madison Square Garden – New York, NY Finals The finals round took place March 29, 2007 at Madison Square Garden. The post-tournament celebration by the Mountaineers was overshadowed by a typographical error on the championship T-shirt, on which the school name was rendered as WEST VIRGINA.^[7] The vendor, 6th Man Sportswear, apologized for this mistake, and corrected the spelling for all T-shirts except those 25 printed for the team in preparation for a victory.^[8] Bracket Semifinals and Finals See also 2007 Women's National Invitation Tournament 2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 2007 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament 2007 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament 2007 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament 2007 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament 2007 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament 2007 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament 2007 NAIA Division II men's basketball tournament 2007 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament 2007 NAIA Division II women's basketball tournament References ]

Notes and References

1. Web site: National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Principles and Procedures for Establishing the Bracket . 2007-03-12 . National Invitation Tournament . https://web.archive.org/web/20070117165224/http://www.nit.org/about-nit/selection-procedures.html . 2007-01-17 . live .
2. Web site: 70th Annual National Invitation Tournament . 2007-03-12 . National Invitation Tournament . https://web.archive.org/web/20070113020542/http://www.nit.org/sports/m-nit/spec-rel/011107aaa.html . 2007-01-13 . live .
3. News: N.I.T. Sets Its Field of 32 . Associated Press . 2007-03-12 . 2007-03-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20150605051635/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/12/sports/ncaabasketball/12nit.html. June 5, 2015. live.
4. Web site: National Invitation Tournament . 2007-03-12 . National Invitation Tournament. https://web.archive.org/web/20070309182826/http://www.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/nit/sports/m-nit/auto_pdf/2007-Bracket. 9 March 2007 . dead.
5. DePaul normally plays non-exhibition games at Allstate Arena, but due to a scheduling conflict, DePaul played on campus at McGrath Arena.
6. News: Lew Freedman . Lew Freedman . NIT's fine with DePaul . Chicago Tribune . 2007-03-11 . 2007-03-13.
7. News: Typo creates controversy at 'West ' . ESPN.com . 2007-03-30 . 2007-04-03.
8. Web site: 'West ' NIT Tournament Champions Tee Shirt: If 'I' Did It . 6thManSportswear.com . 2007-04-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070410102817/http://6thmansportswear.com/west-virgina-misspelled-nit-t-shirt.shtml . 2007-04-10 . dead .