# 2002 National Invitation Tournament

The 2002 National Invitation Tournament was the 2002 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition.

## Selected teams

Below is a list of the 40 teams selected for the tournament.
| School | Conference | Record | Appearance | Last bid |
| Arizona State | Pac-10 | 14–14 | 8th | 2000 |
| Ball State | MAC | 20–11 | 4th | 1998 |
| Bowling Green | MAC | 24–8 | 13th | 2000 |
| Butler | Horizon | 25–5 | 7th | 1999 |
| BYU | Mountain West | 17–11 | 9th | 2000 |
| Dayton | Atlantic 10 | 20–10 | 20th | 2001 |
| Detroit | Horizon | 18–12 | 8th | 1999 |
| Fresno State | WAC | 19–14 | 6th | 2001 |
| George Mason | Colonial | 19–9 | 2nd | 1986 |
| Georgia State | A-Sun | 20–10 | 1st | Never |
| Houston | C-USA | 18–14 | 7th | 1993 |
| Iowa | Big Ten | 19–15 | 3rd | 1998 |
| Louisiana-Lafayette | Sun Belt | 20–10 | 4th | 1985 |
| Louisiana Tech | WAC | 20–9 | 5th | 1992 |
| Louisville | C-USA | 18–12 | 13th | 1985 |
| LSU | SEC | 18–14 | 4th | 1983 |
| Manhattan | MAAC | 20–8 | 17th | 1996 |
| Memphis | C-USA | 22–9 | 15th | 2001 |
| Minnesota | Big Ten | 17–12 | 10th | 2001 |
| Montana State | Big Sky | 19–9 | 2nd | 1987 |
| New Mexico | Mountain West | 16–13 | 16th | 2001 |
| Princeton | Ivy | 16–11 | 5th | 2000 |
| Richmond | Atlantic 10 | 19–13 | 6th | 2001 |
| Rutgers | Big East | 18–12 | 12th | 2000 |
| Saint Joseph's | Atlantic 10 | 18–11 | 7th | 1996 |
| South Carolina | SEC | 18–14 | 8th | 2001 |
| South Florida | C-USA | 19–12 | 7th | 2000 |
| St. Bonaventure | Atlantic 10 | 17–12 | 15th | 2001 |
| Syracuse | Big East | 20–11 | 10th | 1997 |
| Temple | Atlantic 10 | 15–14 | 13th | 1989 |
| Tennessee Tech | Ohio Valley | 24–6 | 2nd | 1985 |
| UC Irvine | Big West | 21–10 | 4th | 2001 |
| UNC Greensboro | Southern | 20–10 | 1st | Never |
| UNLV | Mountain West | 20–10 | 6th | 1999 |
| Utah State | Big West | 23–7 | 6th | 1995 |
| Vanderbilt | SEC | 16–14 | 9th | 2000 |
| Villanova | Big East | 17–12 | 15th | 2001 |
| Virginia | ACC | 17–11 | 9th | 2000 |
| Wagner | Northeast | 19–9 | 2nd | 1979 |
| Yale | Ivy | 20–10 | 1st | Never |

### Georgetown declines invitation

Big East Conference member Georgetown originally was among the teams selected, but declined to take part. Hoyas head coach Craig Esherick explained that Georgetown's home court, the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., was booked to host the East Regional of the 2002 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, meaning that accepting the NIT invitation would have required the Hoyas to play on the road in the West for two weeks, forcing his players to miss many of their classes. After playing a similar schedule the previous season during the 2001 NCAA tournament, Esherick had concluded that missing so many classes to play in the NIT, a tournament which did not offer a chance for a national championship, was not in the best interest of Georgetown's players.
Esherick's controversial decision meant that Georgetown had no postseason play for the first time since the 1973–74 season. Georgetown became the first team to turn down an NIT bid since Louisville turned down a bid to the 1987 NIT.

## Bracket

Below are the four first-round brackets, along with the four-team championship bracket.
| Opening Round | Opening Round | First Round | First Round | Second Round | Second Round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals |
| | | Syracuse | 76 | | | | | |
| | | St. Bonaventure | 66 | | | | | |
| | | | | Syracuse | 66 | | | |
| | | | | Butler | 65 | | | |
| | | Butler | 81 | | | | | |
| | | Bowling Green | 69 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | Syracuse | 62 |
| | | | | | | | Richmond | 46 |
| | | Minnesota | 96 | | | | | |
| | | New Mexico | 62 | | | | | |
| | | | | Minnesota | 66 | | | |
| | | | | Richmond | 67 | | | |
| Richmond | 74 | | | | | Richmond | 67 | |
| Wagner | 67 | | | | | | | |
| Wagner | 67 | Richmond | 63 | | | | | |
| | | Montana State | 48 | | | | | |
| Montana State | 77 | Montana State | 48 | | | | | |
| Utah State | 69 | | | | | | | |
| Opening Round | Opening Round | First Round | First Round | Second Round | Second Round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals |
| Ball State | 98 | | | | | | |
| South Florida | 92 | | | | | | |
| South Florida | 92 | Ball State | 75 | | | | |
| | | Saint Joseph's | 65 | | | | |
| Saint Joseph's | 73 | Saint Joseph's | 65 | | | | |
| George Mason | 64 | | | | | | |
| George Mason | 64 | | | Ball State | 75 | | |
| | | | | LSU | 65 | | |
| | | LSU | 63 | | | | |
| | | Iowa | 61 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Ball State | 47 |
| | | | | | | South Carolina | 82 |
| | | UNLV | 96 | | | | |
| | | Arizona State | 91 | | | | |
| | | | | UNLV | 65 | | |
| | | | | South Carolina | 75 | | |
| | | South Carolina | 74 | | | | |
| | | Virginia | 67 | | | | |
| Opening Round | Opening Round | First Round | First Round | Second Round | Second Round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals |
| | | Temple | 81 | | | | | |
| | | Fresno State | 75 | | | | | |
| | | | | Temple | 65 | | | |
| | | | | Louisville | 62 | | | |
| | | Louisville | 66 | | | | | |
| | | Princeton | 65 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | Temple | 63 |
| | | | | | | | Villanova | 57 |
| | | Villanova | 84 | | | | | |
| | | Manhattan | 69 | | | | | |
| | | | | Villanova | 67 | | | |
| | | | | Louisiana Tech | 64 | | | |
| Louisiana Tech | 83 | | | | | Louisiana Tech | 64 | |
| Louisiana–Lafayette | 63 | | | | | | | |
| Louisiana–Lafayette | 63 | Louisiana Tech | 83 | | | | | |
| | | Vanderbilt | 68 | | | | | |
| Vanderbilt | 59 | Vanderbilt | 68 | | | | | |
| Houston | 50 | | | | | | | |
| Opening Round | Opening Round | First Round | First Round | Second Round | Second Round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals |
| Tennessee Tech | 64 | | | | | | |
| Georgia State | 62 | | | | | | |
| Georgia State | 62 | Tennessee Tech | 68 | | | | |
| | | Dayton | 59 | | | | |
| Dayton | 80 | Dayton | 59 | | | | |
| Detroit | 69 | | | | | | |
| Detroit | 69 | | | Tennessee Tech | 80 | | |
| | | | | Yale | 61 | | |
| | | Yale | 67 | | | | |
| | | Rutgers | 65 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Tennessee Tech | 73 |
| | | | | | | Memphis | 79 |
| | | BYU | 78 | | | | |
| | | UC Irvine | 55 | | | | |
| | | | | BYU | 69 | | |
| | | | | Memphis | 80 | | |
| | | Memphis | 82 | | | | |
| | | UNC Greensboro | 62 | | | | |

### Semifinals & finals

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| Syracuse | Syracuse | 59 | | | |
| South Carolina | South Carolina | 66 | | | |
| South Carolina | South Carolina | 66 | South Carolina | South Carolina | 62 |
| | | | Memphis | Memphis | 72 |
| Temple | Temple | 77 | Memphis | Memphis | 72 |
| Memphis | Memphis | 78 | | | |
| Third place game | Third place game | Third place game |
| Syracuse | Syracuse | 54 |
| Temple | Temple | 65 |