The National Commissioners Invitational Tournament was an eight-team postseason men's college basketball tournament run by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It was introduced in 1974 as the Collegiate Commissioners Association Tournament. Invitees were runner-up teams in major conferences. It was created because the NCAA wanted to "kill" the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), which, at that time, it did not control . It only lasted two years before being discontinued after changes to the NCAA tournament which allowed more than one team per conference to participate.
The tournament was won in 1974 by Indiana over USC, 85–60, in St. Louis, Missouri. The 1974 tournament featured a collection of teams that came in second in their conferences due to NCAA Tournament rules at the time which only invited conference champions.
In 1975, the NCAA tournament expanded to include at-large teams, from a total of 25 to 32 teams and began inviting more than one team from some conferences rather than solely conference champions. However, the 1975 tournament, renamed the National Commissioners Invitational Tournament, was still held and was won by Drake over Arizona, 83–76, in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Commissioners Invitational Tournament was discontinued after the 1975 tournament.
| Year | Champion | Runner-up | MVP | Location | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 85 | 60 | Kent Benson, Indiana | St. Louis, Missouri | |||
| 1975 | 83 | 76 | Bob Elliott, Arizona | Louisville, Kentucky | |||
This is a list of NCIT bids by school.
| NCIT bids | School | Last bid | Last win | Last semifinal | Last champ. game | Last championship | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | USC | 1975 | 1974 | 1974 | 1974 | ||
| 2 | Tennessee | 1975 | |||||
| 1 | Drake | 1975 | 1975 | 1975 | 1975 | 1975 | |
| 1 | Indiana | 1974 | 1974 | 1974 | 1974 | 1974 | |
| 1 | Arizona | 1975 | 1975 | 1975 | 1975 | ||
| 1 | Bowling Green | 1975 | 1975 | 1975 | |||
| 1 | Purdue | 1975 | 1975 | 1975 | |||
| 1 | Bradley | 1974 | 1974 | 1974 | |||
| 1 | Toledo | 1974 | 1974 | 1974 | |||
| 1 | East Carolina | 1975 | |||||
| 1 | Missouri | 1975 | |||||
| 1 | Arizona State | 1974 | |||||
| 1 | Kansas State | 1974 | |||||
| 1 | SMU | 1974 |