For just the second and third times since 1938, the NIT semifinals and championship won’t be held at Madison Square Garden.
The postseason tournament is moving out of New York, the NCAA announced Friday, with Las Vegas’ Orleans Arena hosting in 2023 and historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in 2024.
The NCAA had started to explore different locations for the NIT in March, with sources telling ESPN that the decision was mutual between the NCAA and Madison Square Garden.
The NIT was canceled in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, and the event moved all its games to the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area in 2021, downsizing the field from 32 to 16. That marked the first time the tournament’s final three games weren’t held at MSG. The reduced field featured all at-large selections, with no automatic qualifiers.
This past March, the tournament reverted to its usual format: 32 teams, with regular-season conference champions earning automatic bids if they didn’t win their conference tournaments. Opening rounds were held at campus sites, and the semifinals and finals returned to Madison Square Garden as Xavier beat Texas A&M for the title.
Campus sites will continue hosting the first and second rounds and the quarterfinals in 2023 and 2024.
The NIT board also announced Friday that former men’s basketball coaches Rick Byrd, Bob McKillop and Gary Waters have been selected as new committee members.
