2012 National Invitation Tournament

The 2012 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2012 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament began on March 13 on campus sites and ended on March 29 at Madison Square Garden. Stanford defeated Minnesota in the final game, by a score of 75–51 to become NIT champions for second time (first since 1991).

2012 National Invitation Tournament

2012 NIT Logo
Season	2011–12
Teams	32
Finals site	Madison Square Garden New York City
Champions	Stanford Cardinal (2nd title)
Runner-up	Minnesota Golden Gophers (4th title game)
Semifinalists	Washington Huskies (1st semifinal) Massachusetts Minutemen (3rd semifinal)
Winning coach	Johnny Dawkins (1st title)
MVP	Aaron Bright (Stanford)
National Invitation Tournaments «2011 2013»

Participants

Automatic qualifiers

The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2012 NIT field by virtue of winning their conferences' regular season championship but failing to win their conference tournament. These teams also did not receive an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament.

Team	Conference	Record	Appearance	Last bid
Akron	MAC	22–11	5th	2008
Bucknell	Patriot League	24–9	1st	Never
Drexel	Colonial	27–6	7th	2007
Middle Tennessee	Sun Belt	25–6	3rd	1988
Nevada	WAC	26–6	5th	2010
Oral Roberts	Summit	27–6	8th	2005
Savannah State	MEAC	21–11	1st	Never
Stony Brook	America East	22–9	2nd	2010
Texas–Arlington	Southland	24–8	2nd	1981
Valparaiso	Horizon	22–11	2nd	2003

Seeds

Washington Bracket Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Washington Pac-12 21–10 At-large 2 Dayton Atlantic 10 20–12 At-large 3 Oregon Pac-12 22–9 At-large 4 Northwestern Big Ten 18–13 At-large 5 Akron MAC 22–11 Automatic 6 LSU SEC 18–14 At-large 7 Iowa Big Ten 17–16 At-large 8 UT-Arlington Southland 24–8 Automatic	Tennessee Bracket Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Tennessee SEC 18–14 At-large 2 Miami (FL) ACC 19–12 At-large 3 La Salle Atlantic 10 21–12 At-large 4 Middle Tennessee Sun Belt 25–6 Automatic 5 Marshall Conference USA 21–13 At-large 6 Minnesota Big Ten 19–14 At-large 7 Valparaiso Horizon 22–11 Automatic 8 Savannah State MEAC 21–11 Automatic
Seton Hall Bracket Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Seton Hall Big East 20–12 At-large 2 Saint Joseph's Atlantic 10 20–13 At-large 3 Drexel Colonial 27–6 Automatic 4 Mississippi State SEC 21–11 At-large 5 UMass Atlantic 10 22–11 At-large 6 UCF Conference USA 22–10 At-large 7 Northern Iowa Missouri Valley 19–13 At-large 8 Stony Brook America East 22–9 Automatic	Arizona Bracket Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Arizona Pac-12 23–11 At-large 2 Mississippi SEC 20–13 At-large 3 Stanford Pac-12 21–11 At-large 4 Oral Roberts Summit 27–6 Automatic 5 Nevada WAC 26–6 Automatic 6 Cleveland State Horizon 22–10 At-large 7 Illinois State Missouri Valley 20–13 At-large 8 Bucknell Patriot 24–9 Automatic

Bracket

Played on the home court of the higher-seeded team except #7 seed Iowa hosts #2 seed Dayton since Dayton is the host of the NCAA First Four and cannot host a first-round NIT game.

	First round March 13–14					Second round March 16–19					Quarterfinals March 20–21 ESPN
	1	Washington	82
	8	UT Arlington	72
						1	Washington	76
						4	Northwestern	55
	4	Northwestern	76
	5	Akron	74
											1	Washington	90
											3	Oregon	86
	3	Oregon	96
	6	LSU	76
						3	Oregon	108
						7	Iowa	97
	2	Dayton	72
	7	Iowa	84

	First round March 13–14					Second round March 16–19					Quarterfinals March 20–21 ESPN
	1	Tennessee	65
	8	Savannah State	51
						1	Tennessee	64
						4	Middle Tennessee	71
	4	Middle Tennessee	86
	5	Marshall	78
											4	Middle Tennessee	72
											6	Minnesota	78
	3	La Salle	61
	6	Minnesota	70
						6	Minnesota	78
						2	Miami (FL)	60
	2	Miami (FL)	66
	7	Valparaiso	50

	First round March 13–14					Second round March 16–19					Quarterfinals March 20–21 ESPN2
	1	Seton Hall	63
	8	Stony Brook	61
						1	Seton Hall	67
						5	UMass	77
	4	Mississippi State	96
	5	UMass	1012OT
											5	UMass	72
											3	Drexel	70
	3	Drexel	81
	6	UCF	56
						3	Drexel	65
						7	Northern Iowa	63
	2	Saint Joseph's	65
	7	Northern Iowa	67

	First round March 13–14					Second round March 16–19					Quarterfinals March 20–21 ESPN2
	1	Arizona	54
	8	Bucknell	65
						8	Bucknell	67
						5	Nevada	75
	4	Oral Roberts	59
	5	Nevada	68
											5	Nevada	56
											3	Stanford	84
	3	Stanford	76
	6	Cleveland State	65
						3	Stanford	92OT
						7	Illinois State	88
	2	Ole Miss	93
	7	Illinois State	96OT

Semifinals and final

Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 27 and March 29

	Semifinals March 27 ESPN2					Championship March 29 ESPN
	1	Washington	67
	6	Minnesota	68OT
						6	Minnesota	51
						3	Stanford	75
	5	UMass	74
	3	Stanford	84

See also

• 2012 Women's National Invitation Tournament
• 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 2012 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 2012 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
• 2012 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 2012 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 2012 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
• 2012 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 2012 NAIA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 2012 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 2012 NAIA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 2012 College Basketball Invitational
• 2012 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament