| Type: | NIT |
| Gender: | Men's |
| Year: | 2017 |
| Teams: | 32 |
| Finalfourarena: | Madison Square Garden |
| Finalfourcity: | New York City |
| Champions: | TCU Horned Frogs |
| Titlecount: | 1st |
| Runnerup: | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets |
| Gamecount: | 2nd |
| Semifinal1: | Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners |
| Semifinalcount: | 1st |
| Semifinal2: | UCF Knights |
| Semifinalcount2: | 1st |
| Coach: | Jamie Dixon |
| Coachcount: | 1st |
| Mop: | Kenrich Williams |
| Mopteam: | TCU |
The 2017 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2017 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament was played on campus sites in the first three rounds (the host team being the team with the higher seeding), with the semifinals and championship game being held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The tournament began on Tuesday, March 14 and ended on Thursday, March 30. The NIT Selection Show aired Sunday March 12 on ESPNU.
In February 2017, the NCAA approved a number of experimental rule changes for use in this tournament:[1]
The following 10 teams were guaranteed berths into the 2017 NIT field when they failed to receive an at-large NCAA bid by virtue of having won their respective conference's regular season championship and failing to win their conference tournaments.
| Team | Conference | Record | data-sort-type="number" | Appearance | Last bid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belmont | Ohio Valley | 26–6 | 4th | 2016 | |
| Illinois State | Missouri Valley | 27–6 | 14th | 2015 | |
| Monmouth | Metro Atlantic | 27–6 | 2nd | 2016 | |
| Oakland | Horizon | 24–8 | 1st | Never | |
| South Dakota | Summit | 22–11 | 1st | Never | |
| UNC Greensboro | Southern | 25–9 | 2nd | 2002 | |
| UT Arlington | Sun Belt | 25–8 | 3rd | 2012 | |
| Akron | MAC | 26–8 | 7th | 2016 | |
| UC Irvine | Big West | 21–14 | 6th | 2014 | |
| Cal State Bakersfield | WAC | 22–9 | 1st | Never |
The following 22 teams were also awarded NIT berths.
| Team | Conference | Record | data-sort-type="number" | Appearance | Last bid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | SEC | 19–14 | 15th | 2016 | |
| Boise State | Mtn West | 19–11 | 5th | 2004 | |
| BYU | WCC | 22–11 | 13th | 2016 | |
| California | Pac-12 | 21–12 | 9th | 2014 | |
| Clemson | ACC | 17–15 | 16th | 2014 | |
| College of Charleston | CAA | 25–9 | 5th | 2011 | |
| Colorado | Pac-12 | 19–14 | 9th | 2011 | |
| Colorado State | Mtn West | 23–11 | 9th | 2015 | |
| Fresno State | Mtn West | 20–12 | 10th | 2007 | |
| Georgia | SEC | 19–14 | 14th | 2016 | |
| Georgia Tech | ACC | 17–15 | 9th | 2016 | |
| Houston | American | 21–10 | 11th | 2016 | |
| Illinois | Big Ten | 18–14 | 7th | 2015 | |
| Indiana | Big Ten | 18–15 | 5th | 2005 | |
| Iowa | Big Ten | 18–14 | 8th | 2013 | |
| Ole Miss | SEC | 20–13 | 12th | 2012 | |
| Richmond | Atlantic 10 | 20–12 | 9th | 2015 | |
| Syracuse | ACC | 18–14 | 13th | 2008 | |
| TCU | Big 12 | 19–15 | 7th | 2005 | |
| UCF | American | 20–11 | 2nd | 2012 | |
| Utah | Pac-12 | 20–11 | 13th | 2014 | |
| Valparaiso | Horizon | 24–8 | 4th | 2016 |
| Conference | Bids | |
|---|---|---|
| ACC, Big Ten, Mtn West, Pac-12, SEC | 3 | |
| American, Horizon | 2 | |
| Atlantic 10, Big 12, Big West, CAA, MAAC, MAC, Missouri Valley, Ohio Valley, SoCon, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast, WAC | 1 | |
| 0 |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Syracuse | ACC | 18–14 | At-large | |
| 2 | Georgia | SEC | 19–14 | At-large | |
| 3 | Indiana | Big Ten | 18–15 | At-large | |
| 4 | Monmouth | MAAC | 27–6 | Automatic | |
| 5 | Ole Miss | SEC | 20–13 | At-large | |
| 6 | Georgia Tech | ACC | 17–15 | At-large | |
| 7 | Belmont | OVC | 22–6 | Automatic | |
| 8 | UNC Greensboro | SoCon | 25–9 | Automatic |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | Pac-12 | 21–12 | At-large | |
| 2 | Houston | American | 21–10 | At-large | |
| 3 | BYU | WCC | 22–11 | At-large | |
| 4 | Colorado State | Mtn West | 23–11 | At-large | |
| 5 | Charleston | CAA | 25–9 | At-large | |
| 6 | UT Arlington | Sun Belt | 25–8 | Automatic | |
| 7 | Akron | MAC | 26–8 | Automatic | |
| 8 | Cal State Bakersfield | WAC | 22–9 | Automatic |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Illinois State | Missouri Valley | 27–6 | Automatic | |
| 2 | Illinois | Big Ten | 18–14 | At-large | |
| 3 | Utah | Pac-12 | 20–11 | At-large | |
| 4 | UCF | American | 21–11 | At-large | |
| 5 | Colorado | Pac-12 | 19–14 | At-large | |
| 6 | Boise State | Mtn West | 19–11 | At-large | |
| 7 | Valparaiso | Horizon | 24–8 | At-large | |
| 8 | UC Irvine | Big West | 21–14 | Automatic |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iowa | Big Ten | 18–14 | At-large | |
| 2 | Clemson | ACC | 17–15 | At-large | |
| 3 | Alabama | SEC | 19–14 | At-large | |
| 4 | TCU | Big 12 | 19–15 | At-large | |
| 5 | Fresno State | Mtn West | 20–12 | At-large | |
| 6 | Richmond | Atlantic 10 | 20–12 | At-large | |
| 7 | Oakland | Horizon | 24–8 | Automatic | |
| 8 | South Dakota | Summit | 22–11 | Automatic |
The NIT began on Tuesday, March 14. The first three rounds were played at campus sites. The semifinals were held on Tuesday, March 28 and the championship on Thursday, March 30 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.[2]
^ Indiana Athletic Director Fred Glass declined to host a home game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall citing concern it would "devalue" the Hoosiers' home court.[3]
† Game played at Texas Southern's Health and Physical Education Arena due to renovations at Hofheinz Pavilion.^ Game played at UCF due to prior scheduled event at the State Farm Center.
ESPN, Inc. had exclusive television rights. Games were telecast on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, or ESPN3. Westwood One had exclusive radio rights to the semifinals and the championship.