NIT will play all of its games in Texas

The semifinals and championship game won’t be at New York’s Madison Square Garden for the first time in the 83-year history of college basketball’s oldest postseason tournament.

All NIT games will be played in the Dallas area this year.

The NIT is moving the entire 2021 event to Texas because of the coronavirus pandemic, taking the semifinals and championship game out of New York’s Madison Square Garden for the first time in the 83-year history of college basketball’s oldest postseason tournament.

The field is being reduced to 16 teams from the usual 32, and all games will be played in the Dallas area. The two venues are the University of North Texas in Denton and an arena in Frisco that is home to a G League team affiliated with the Dallas Mavericks.

First-round games will be played March 17-20, with the quarterfinals March 25. The semifinals are set for March 27, followed by the championship game the next day. Specific arenas for each round weren’t announced.

The NIT field will be announced after the NCAA Tournament is set March 14. The Texas Longhorns won the most recent NIT in 2019.

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