| Type: | NIT |
| Gender: | Men's |
| Year: | 2018 |
| Teams: | 32 |
| Finalfourarena: | Madison Square Garden |
| Finalfourcity: | New York City |
| Champions: | Penn State Nittany Lions |
| Titlecount: | 2nd |
| Runnerup: | Utah Utes |
| Gamecount: | 3rd |
| Semifinal1: | Western Kentucky Hilltoppers |
| Semifinalcount: | 4th |
| Semifinal2: | Mississippi State Bulldogs |
| Semifinalcount2: | 2nd |
| Coach: | Pat Chambers |
| Coachcount: | 1st |
| Mop: | Lamar Stevens |
| Mopteam: | Penn State |
The 2018 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I college men's basketball teams that were not selected to participate in the 2018 NCAA tournament. The first three rounds of the annual tournament were played on campus sites (the host team being the higher-seeded team). The semifinals and championship game were held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
In February 2018, the NCAA approved a number of experimental rule changes for use in this tournament:[1]
The following teams were guaranteed berths into the 2018 NIT field by having the best regular-season record in their conference but failing to either win their conference tournament or earn an at-large berth in the 2018 NCAA tournament.
| Team | Conference | Record | data-sort-type="number" | Appearance | Last bid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Gulf Coast | ASUN | 23–11 | 2nd | 2014 | |
| Hampton | MEAC | 19–15 | 1st | ||
| Harvard | Ivy | 18–13 | 2nd | 2011 | |
| Louisiana | Sun Belt | 27–6 | 6th | 2003 | |
| Middle Tennessee | C-USA | 24–7 | 4th | 2012 | |
| Northern Kentucky | Horizon | 22–9 | 1st | ||
| Rider | Metro Atlantic | 22–9 | 2nd | 1998 | |
| Southeastern Louisiana | Southland | 22–11 | 1st | ||
| UC Davis | Big West | 22–10 | 2nd | 2015 | |
| UNC Asheville | Big South | 21–12 | 2nd | 2008 | |
| Vermont | America East | 27–7 | 4th | 2014 | |
| Wagner | Northeast | 23–9 | 4th | 2016 | |
Grambling State won the SWAC regular-season title but was banned from the postseason due to low graduation rates and did not participate in the conference tournament. There was thus no automatic qualifier from the SWAC.
The following 20 teams were also awarded NIT berths.
| Team | Conference | Record | data-sort-type="number" | Appearance | Last bid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor | Big 12 | 18–14 | 6th | 2013 | |
| Boise State | Mountain West | 23–8 | 6th | 2017 | |
| Boston College | ACC | 19–15 | 12th | 2011 | |
| BYU | WCC | 24–10 | 14th | 2017 | |
| Louisville | ACC | 20–13 | 15th | 2006 | |
| LSU | SEC | 17–14 | 8th | 2014 | |
| Marquette | Big East | 19–13 | 16th | 2005 | |
| Mississippi State | SEC | 22–11 | 9th | 2012 | |
| Nebraska | Big Ten | 22–10 | 18th | 2011 | |
| Notre Dame | ACC | 20–14 | 12th | 2009 | |
| Oklahoma State | Big 12 | 19–14 | 12th | 2011 | |
| Oregon | Pac-12 | 22–12 | 11th | 2012 | |
| Penn State | Big Ten | 21–13 | 11th | 2009 | |
| Stanford | Pac-12 | 18–15 | 9th | 2015 | |
| Saint Mary's | WCC | 28–5 | 5th | 2016 | |
| Temple | American | 17–15 | 19th | 2015 | |
| USC | Pac-12 | 23–11 | 5th | 1999 | |
| Utah | Pac-12 | 19–11 | 14th | 2017 | |
| Pac-12 | 20–12 | 9th | 2016 | ||
| Western Kentucky | C-USA | 24–10 | 14th | 2006 | |
| Conference | Bids | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | ||
| 3 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 1 | ||
| 0 |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint Mary's | WCC | 28–5 | At-large | |
| 2 | Utah | Pac-12 | 19–11 | At-large | |
| 3 | LSU | SEC | 17–14 | At-large | |
| 4 | Boise State | Mountain West | 23–8 | At-large | |
| 5 | Washington | Pac-12 | 20–12 | At-large | |
| 6 | Louisiana | Sun Belt | 27–6 | Automatic | |
| 7 | UC Davis | Big West | 22–10 | Automatic | |
| 8 | SE Louisiana | Southland | 22–11 | Automatic |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baylor | Big 12 | 18–14 | At-large | |
| 2 | Louisville | ACC | 20–13 | At-large | |
| 3 | Middle Tennessee | C-USA | 24–7 | Automatic | |
| 4 | Mississippi State | SEC | 22–11 | At-large | |
| 5 | Nebraska | Big Ten | 22–10 | At-large | |
| 6 | Vermont | America East | 27–7 | Automatic | |
| 7 | Northern Kentucky | Horizon | 22–9 | Automatic | |
| 8 | Wagner | NEC | 23–9 | Automatic |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USC | Pac-12 | 23–11 | At-large | |
| 2 | Oklahoma State | Big 12 | 19–14 | At-large | |
| 3 | Stanford | Pac-12 | 18–15 | At-large | |
| 4 | Western Kentucky | C-USA | 24–10 | At-large | |
| 5 | Boston College | ACC | 19–15 | At-large | |
| 6 | BYU | WCC | 24–10 | At-large | |
| 7 | Florida Gulf Coast | ASUN | 23–11 | Automatic | |
| 8 | UNC Asheville | Big South | 21–12 | Automatic |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Notre Dame | ACC | 20–14 | At-large | |
| 2 | Marquette | Big East | 19–13 | At-large | |
| 3 | Oregon | Pac-12 | 22–12 | At-large | |
| 4 | Penn State | Big Ten | 21–13 | At-large | |
| 5 | Temple | American | 17–15 | At-large | |
| 6 | Rider | MAAC | 22–9 | Automatic | |
| 7 | Harvard | Ivy | 18–13 | Automatic | |
| 8 | Hampton | MEAC | 19–15 | Automatic |
The NIT began on Tuesday, March 13, 2018. Due to a conflict at Taco Bell Arena (with the NCAA tournament), Boise State travelled to the University of Washington for their first-round match.[3] The first three rounds were played on campus sites. The semifinals were held on Tuesday, March 27, and the championship game was held on Thursday, March 29, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
^ Game played at Washington due to Taco Bell Arena hosting first- and second-round 2018 NCAA tournament games.
* Denotes overtime period
ESPN, Inc. had exclusive television rights to all of the NIT Games. It was telecast every game across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPN3. Westwood One had exclusive radio rights to the semifinals and the championship.