Villanova basketball’s opponent is VCU to open 2024 NIT bracket; Saint Joseph's also in
Kevin Tresolini
Villanova has a Philadelphia Big 5 companion in the revamped National Invitation Tournament basketball bracket announced Sunday night.
The Wildcats (18-15) were one of the 32-team field's four No. 1 seeds and will host VCU (22-13) in the first round Wednesday at 9 p.m. Tickets are on sale.
They are joined by Saint Joseph's (21-13) , which will visit one of the other No. 1 seeds, Seton Hall (20-12), in the opening round Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Both games will air on ESPN2.
Indiana State and Wake Forest are the other top seeds. Villanova could play three home games as a No. 1. The Wildcats would host the South Florida-Central Florida winner in the second round.
Villanova lost as the No. 6 seed in the Big East quarterfinals Thursday 71-65 in overtime to Marquette, dashing its NCAA Tournament hopes and relegating it to the NIT. These are Villanova’s first back-to-back NIT appearances since 2003 and 2004. The Wildcats lost 62-57 at Liberty in the first round last year to finish 17-17.
This is the Wildcats' 19th appearance in the NIT, highlighted by its 1994 title.
Saint Joseph's reached the Atlantic 10 semifinals before falling to VCU. It’s Saint Joseph's 17th appearance in the NIT, including title game losses in 1996 and 2005.
The NCAA announced last fall that the NIT would no longer automatically include regular-season champions who fail to win their conference tournaments to earn NCAA Tournament qualification, a blow to mid- and low-major schools that does make the field more competitive.
Instead, the NIT’s 32-team field features the top two remaining teams based on NET Rankings from the six major conferences – ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12. Villanova and Seton Hall were the two Big East teams. That dozen is joined by what the NIT selection committee deems the next best 20 teams to create four eight-team quadrants.
Villanova's Big East rival St. John's, Pitt, Oklahoma and Memphis were among teams that turned down NIT bids.
This is the second straight year the NIT will not hold its Final Four at the traditional Madison Square Garden site. Butler University’s Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis is this year’s setting for games April 2 and 4.
Second-round games are March 23-24 and quarterfinals March 26-27 with games aired by ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.
The NIT will also have experimental rules with a widened free-throw lane.
Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.