# 2025 National Invitation Tournament

The 2025 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I men's college basketball teams not selected to participate in the 2025 NCAA tournament. The tournament began on March 18 and end on April 3. The first three rounds will be played on campuses, with the semifinal and championship final played at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Six programs will be making their debut in the NIT: Cal State Northridge, Jacksonville State, North Alabama, Northern Colorado, Samford, and UC Riverside.

## Participants

Teams and pairings for the 2025 NIT were released by the NIT Committee on Sunday, March 16, 2025. 32 teams will qualify for the NIT, including exempt qualifiers, automatic qualifiers, and at-large selections. In 2024, the Seton Hall Pirates won the NIT championship.
Non-NCAA tournament teams from the Big East, Big Ten and Big 12 conferences were contractually prohibited from playing in any other postseason tournament, including the NIT, if they declined an invitation or removed themselves from consideration for a bid to the College Basketball Crown.

### Exempt qualifiers

For the 2025 NIT, exempt bids were extended to two teams from each of the Atlantic Coast (ACC) and Southeastern (SEC) conferences, plus one team each from the top 12 conferences (other than the ACC and SEC) as rated by KenPom on March 16, 2025. All exempt qualifiers were given the opportunity to host first-round games. The 12 conferences that earned exempt bids based on their KenPom ratings were
* The American
* Atlantic 10
* Big East
* Big Ten
* Big 12
* Big West
* Conference USA
* Ivy League
* Missouri Valley
* Mountain West
* West Coast
* WAC
Whether there were 12 exempt-bid conferences including or excluding the ACC and SEC is unclear. Multiple sources indicated that there would be 16 exempt bids extended. This is possible only if four exempt bids were extended collectively to the ACC and SEC, and 12 other conferences qualified for exempt bids. Nevertheless, two days before NIT selections were to be made, a tweet from the NIT's account included a graphic purporting to show the 12 conferences that were then leading in the KenPom ratings, and those 12 conferences included the ACC and SEC. This would result in only 14 exempt bids. A CBS Sports article in which the tweet was embedded continued to maintain there would be 16 exempt bids. The two conferences shown on the list above that were excluded from the graphic were the Ivy League and the WAC. Since the tweet is the only source indicating there would be only 14 exempt teams, it may have been erroneous. Further, it appears that Utah Valley, the team entitled to the WAC's exempt bid, may not be hosting due to scheduling issues with their arena, which would mean the WAC did earn an exempt bid. However, local media reporting Utah Valley's NIT bid merely speculated and did not express certainty regarding the reason they were playing on the road. The Utah Valley athletics website offered no explanation for the team opening the NIT away from home. Without a definitive statement from the NCAA, the status of teams participating in the tournament as either exempt or at large remains unclear.
The teams accepting exempt bids are shown in the table below. No schools from the Big East, Big Ten, Ivy or SEC accepted invitations into the tournament, creating five additional at-large berths.
| Team | Conference | Overall record | Appearance | Last bid |
| SMU | ACC | 23–10 (.697) | 7th | 2024 |
| Stanford | ACC | 20–13 (.606) | 10th | 2018 |
| North Texas | American | 24–8 (.750) | 4th | 2024 |
| George Mason | Atlantic 10 | 26–8 (.765) | 5th | 2009 |
| Oklahoma State | Big 12 | 15–17 (.469) | 14th | 2023 |
| UC Irvine | Big West | 28–6 (.824) | 9th | 2024 |
| Middle Tennessee | Conference USA | 22–11 (.667) | 5th | 2018 |
| Bradley | Missouri Valley | 26–8 (.765) | 24th | 2024 |
| San Jose State | Mountain West | 15–19 (.441) | 2nd | 1981 |
| San Francisco | West Coast | 24–9 (.727) | 8th | 2024 |
| Utah Valley† | WAC | 25–8 (.758) | 3rd | 2023 |
† Utah Valley had to decline hosting a first-round game due to scheduling issues at the UCCU Center. As described above, Utah Valley's status as an exempt qualifier is uncertain.
The final KNIT scores of non-NCAA tournament teams from conferences that earned exempt bids through the close of play on March 16, 2025 (Selection Sunday), are summarized in the tables below. Teams in bold accepted a bid. Teams in italics were eligible for an automatic bid but declined. Some Big East, Big Ten and Big 12 teams were contractually obligated to decline.
Atlantic Coast Conference :
| Team | BPI | KPI | NET | KPR | SOR | TOR | WAB | KNIT |
| SMU | 45 | 62 | 46 | 47 | 51 | 47 | 57 | 51 |
| Wake Forest | 62 | 59 | 69 | 71 | 44 | 70 | 48 | 60 |
| Pittsburgh | 50 | 92 | 61 | 61 | 79 | 72 | 85 | 71 |
| Stanford | 88 | 76 | 81 | 82 | 70 | 75 | 72 | 78 |
| Florida State | 86 | 123 | 90 | 89 | 93 | 93 | 111 | 98 |
| Georgia Tech | 94 | 122 | 109 | 94 | 94 | 90 | 112 | 102 |
| Virginia | 100 | 124 | 110 | 104 | 100 | 96 | 117 | 107 |
| Notre Dame | 89 | 146 | 103 | 96 | 117 | 97 | 138 | 112 |
| Syracuse | 97 | 147 | 133 | 117 | 123 | 107 | 152 | 125 |
| California | 104 | 154 | 125 | 112 | 140 | 121 | 158 | 131 |
| NC State | 93 | 179 | 132 | 125 | 148 | 115 | 177 | 138 |
| Virginia Tech | 122 | 166 | 167 | 161 | 147 | 144 | 182 | 156 |
| Boston College | 161 | 203 | 202 | 184 | 166 | 172 | 196 | 183 |
| Miami (FL) | 119 | 251 | 225 | 192 | 188 | 185 | 269 | 204 |
Southeastern Conference :
| Team | BPI | KPI | NET | KPR | SOR | TOR | WAB | KNIT |
| LSU | 74 | 105 | 89 | 88 | 85 | 84 | 87 | 87 |
| South Carolina | 79 | 106 | 87 | 69 | 109 | 76 | 119 | 92 |
American Athletic Conference :
| Team | BPI | KPI | NET | KPR | SOR | TOR | WAB | KNIT |
| North Texas | 80 | 73 | 65 | 72 | 63 | 73 | 66 | 70 |
| UAB | 99 | 100 | 106 | 103 | 115 | 101 | 124 | 107 |
| Florida Atlantic | 102 | 139 | 111 | 115 | 138 | 111 | 157 | 125 |
| Wichita State | 120 | 140 | 134 | 135 | 129 | 140 | 145 | 135 |
| Tulane | 127 | 174 | 145 | 138 | 154 | 138 | 174 | 150 |
| Temple | 142 | 181 | 164 | 171 | 165 | 157 | 191 | 167 |
| East Carolina | 159 | 162 | 176 | 176 | 156 | 182 | 178 | 170 |
| South Florida | 147 | 207 | 189 | 195 | 188 | 201 | 245 | 196 |
| UTSA | 186 | 227 | 201 | 191 | 188 | 181 | 250 | 203 |
| Rice | 194 | 281 | 204 | 189 | 188 | 179 | 280 | 216 |
| Tulsa | 235 | 262 | 271 | 268 | 188 | 240 | 287 | 250 |
| Charlotte | 219 | 276 | 267 | 257 | 188 | 262 | 319 | 255 |
Atlantic 10 Conference :
| Team | BPI | KPI | NET | KPR | SOR | TOR | WAB | KNIT |
| George Mason | 69 | 47 | 68 | 78 | 53 | 71 | 55 | 63 |
| Dayton | 72 | 51 | 67 | 74 | 58 | 78 | 62 | 66 |
| Saint Joseph's | 71 | 64 | 76 | 79 | 92 | 82 | 106 | 81 |
| St. Bonaventure | 110 | 84 | 97 | 102 | 87 | 92 | 88 | 94 |
| Loyola Chicago | 101 | 78 | 107 | 108 | 95 | 98 | 101 | 98 |
| Saint Louis | 108 | 85 | 101 | 106 | 121 | 108 | 131 | 109 |
| George Washington | 116 | 119 | 124 | 113 | 126 | 116 | 134 | 121 |
| Rhode Island | 135 | 127 | 152 | 150 | 139 | 160 | 154 | 145 |
| Davidson | 130 | 157 | 153 | 148 | 163 | 142 | 181 | 153 |
| Duquesne | 118 | 145 | 149 | 132 | 188 | 123 | 251 | 158 |
| La Salle | 165 | 173 | 214 | 222 | 188 | 209 | 230 | 200 |
| UMass | 192 | 204 | 221 | 214 | 188 | 212 | 267 | 214 |
| Fordham | 213 | 209 | 239 | 229 | 188 | 216 | 278 | 225 |
| Richmond | 223 | 221 | 253 | 238 | 188 | 224 | 296 | 235 |
Big East Conference :
| Team | BPI | KPI | NET | KPR | SOR | TOR | WAB | KNIT |
| Villanova† | 41 | 95 | 55 | 56 | 61 | 52 | 75 | 62 |
| Butler† | 65 | 135 | 83 | 77 | 97 | 77 | 123 | 94 |
| Georgetown† | 84 | 129 | 88 | 87 | 82 | 94 | 103 | 95 |
| Providence | 83 | 149 | 100 | 97 | 131 | 104 | 169 | 119 |
| DePaul† | 105 | 170 | 119 | 118 | 118 | 112 | 149 | 127 |
| Seton Hall | 150 | 240 | 211 | 206 | 188 | 217 | 259 | 210 |
† Offered a bid or preemptively declined the opportunity to play in the CBC and was thereby contractually forbidden from playing in the NIT.
Big Ten Conference :
| Team | BPI | KPI | NET | KPR | SOR | TOR | WAB | KNIT |
| Ohio State† | 37 | 53 | 41 | 39 | 56 | 41 | 59 | 47 |
| Indiana† | 52 | 36 | 54 | 48 | 50 | 55 | 50 | 49 |
| Nebraska† | 55 | 55 | 59 | 54 | 60 | 62 | 61 | 58.0 |
| Northwestern† | 47 | 65 | 53 | 45 | 71 | 54 | 73 | 58.3 |
| Iowa† | 59 | 79 | 63 | 64 | 69 | 66 | 69 | 67 |
| USC† | 60 | 69 | 70 | 63 | 83 | 59 | 86 | 70 |
| Penn State† | 58 | 86 | 66 | 60 | 80 | 64 | 84 | 71 |
| Rutgers† | 76 | 83 | 77 | 75 | 77 | 68 | 83 | 77 |
| Minnesota | 90 | 67 | 96 | 90 | 89 | 86 | 97 | 88 |
| Washington | 107 | 109 | 117 | 109 | 105 | 118 | 118 | 112 |
† Offered a bid or preemptively declined the opportunity to play in the CBC and was thereby contractually forbidden from playing in the NIT.
Big 12 Conference :
| Team | BPI | KPI | NET | KPR | SOR | TOR | WAB | KNIT |
| West Virginia‡ | 51 | 48 | 51 | 53 | 42 | 34 | 41 | 46 |
| Cincinnati‡ | 40 | 66 | 50 | 55 | 59 | 44 | 60 | 53 |
| Kansas State†, ‡ | 63 | 74 | 75 | 67 | 72 | 57 | 71 | 68 |
| UCF†, ‡ | 64 | 75 | 71 | 68 | 65 | 69 | 67 | 68 |
| TCU‡ | 67 | 70 | 78 | 86 | 68 | 74 | 63 | 72 |
| Utah‡ | 61 | 96 | 73 | 76 | 75 | 67 | 76 | 74.9 |
| Arizona State‡ | 77 | 82 | 74 | 70 | 81 | 65 | 78 | 75.3 |
| Colorado‡ | 82 | 101 | 86 | 81 | 91 | 81 | 95 | 88 |
| Oklahoma State | 103 | 112 | 95 | 100 | 76 | 87 | 82 | 94 |
† Teams finished with identical KNIT scores. ‡ Offered a bid or preemptively declined the opportunity to play in the CBC and was thereby contractually forbidden from playing in the NIT.
Big West Conference :
| Team | BPI | KPI | NET | KPR | SOR | TOR | WAB | KNIT |
| UC Irvine | 95 | 41 | 62 | 66 | 57 | 80 | 51 | 65 |
| Cal State Northridge | 133 | 117 | 104 | 107 | 120 | 128 | 108 | 117 |
| UC Riverside | 200 | 98 | 142 | 145 | 119 | 151 | 105 | 137 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 157 | 160 | 140 | 147 | 170 | 147 | 156 | 154 |
| Cal Poly | 236 | 177 | 180 | 181 | 188 | 178 | 225 | 195 |
| Hawaii | 256 | 200 | 223 | 224 | 188 | 231 | 216 | 220 |
| UC Davis | 259 | 205 | 237 | 246 | 188 | 244 | 220 | 228 |
| Cal State Bakersfield | 254 | 235 | 244 | 239 | 188 | 255 | 273 | 241 |
| Long Beach State | 324 | 324 | 326 | 303 | 188 | 309 | 336 | 301 |
| Cal State Fullerton | 355 | 329 | 348 | 351 | 188 | 354 | 341 | 324 |
Conference USA :
| Team | BPI | KPI | NET | KPR | SOR | TOR | WAB | KNIT |
| Middle Tennessee | 141 | 72 | 105 | 119 | 111 | 120 | 92 | 109 |
| Jacksonville State | 153 | 90 | 122 | 123 | 135 | 132 | 115 | 124 |
| Louisiana Tech | 140 | 103 | 126 | 126 | 150 | 134 | 129 | 130 |
| Kennesaw State | 185 | 102 | 137 | 130 | 158 | 124 | 141 | 140 |
| New Mexico State | 164 | 131 | 144 | 131 | 179 | 105 | 167 | 146 |
| UTEP | 196 | 128 | 157 | 158 | 175 | 143 | 165 | 160 |
| Western Kentucky | 198 | 132 | 159 | 159 | 174 | 159 | 163 | 163 |
| Sam Houston | 205 | 178 | 178 | 175 | 188 | 155 | 233 | 187 |
| FIU | 292 | 270 | 260 | 254 | 188 | 266 | 330 | 266 |
Ivy League :
| Team | BPI | KPI | NET | KPR | SOR | TOR | WAB | KNIT |
| Cornell | 117 | 141 | 120 | 128 | 134 | 125 | 142 | 130 |
| Princeton | 132 | 118 | 166 | 178 | 125 | 206 | 127 | 150 |
| Brown | 191 | 189 | 215 | 208 | 170 | 201 | 172 | 192 |
| Dartmouth | 187 | 219 | 209 | 205 | 188 | 176 | 208 | 199 |
| Harvard | 246 | 222 | 256 | 255 | 188 | 238 | 214 | 231 |
| Columbia | 241 | 268 | 272 | 277 | 188 | 299 | 222 | 252 |
| Penn | 271 | 279 | 304 | 291 | 188 | 303 | 276 | 273 |
As described above, the Ivy League's status as an exempt-bid conference is uncertain.
Missouri Valley Conference :
| Team | BPI | KPI | NET | KPR | SOR | TOR | WAB | KNIT |
| Bradley | 92 | 56 | 80 | 95 | 73 | 99 | 68 | 80 |
| Northern Iowa | 113 | 80 | 93 | 101 | 141 | 117 | 136 | 112 |
| Belmont | 162 | 93 | 129 | 129 | 116 | 130 | 116 | 125 |
| Illinois State | 124 | 121 | 121 | 140 | 155 | 131 | 162 | 136 |
| Murray State | 121 | 138 | 146 | 142 | 188 | 162 | 210 | 158 |
| UIC | 154 | 130 | 154 | 174 | 153 | 191 | 166 | 160 |
| Southern Illinois | 207 | 186 | 195 | 193 | 188 | 180 | 255 | 201 |
| Indiana State | 182 | 210 | 205 | 201 | 188 | 203 | 244 | 205 |
| Valparaiso | 203 | 199 | 206 | 212 | 188 | 219 | 256 | 212 |
| Missouri State | 237 | 269 | 245 | 245 | 188 | 207 | 328 | 246 |
| Evansville | 269 | 233 | 257 | 262 | 188 | 261 | 299 | 253 |
Mountain West Conference :
| Team | BPI | KPI | NET | KPR | SOR | TOR | WAB | KNIT |
| Boise State | 48 | 50 | 44 | 50 | 55 | 50 | 52 | 50 |
| UNLV | 96 | 97 | 98 | 92 | 103 | 89 | 110 | 98 |
| Nevada | 78 | 126 | 79 | 80 | 128 | 88 | 128 | 101 |
| San Jose State | 181 | 194 | 175 | 165 | 179 | 152 | 203 | 178 |
| Wyoming | 199 | 217 | 197 | 185 | 188 | 189 | 212 | 198 |
| Fresno State | 274 | 287 | 278 | 256 | 188 | 258 | 317 | 265 |
| Air Force | 304 | 312 | 323 | 310 | 188 | 289 | 340 | 295 |
West Coast Conference :
| Team | BPI | KPI | NET | KPR | SOR | TOR | WAB | KNIT |
| San Francisco | 75 | 58 | 64 | 65 | 54 | 61 | 54 | 62 |
| Santa Clara | 70 | 61 | 57 | 57 | 88 | 51 | 81 | 66 |
| Oregon State | 98 | 113 | 85 | 85 | 108 | 91 | 94 | 96 |
| Washington State | 114 | 116 | 112 | 124 | 106 | 106 | 107 | 112 |
| Loyola Marymount | 169 | 153 | 162 | 155 | 161 | 148 | 137 | 155 |
| Pepperdine | 238 | 254 | 227 | 216 | 188 | 198 | 243 | 223 |
| Portland | 310 | 265 | 288 | 269 | 188 | 251 | 249 | 260 |
| Pacific | 316 | 309 | 295 | 283 | 188 | 279 | 309 | 283 |
| San Diego | 322 | 341 | 324 | 296 | 188 | 292 | 344 | 301 |
Western Athletic Conference :
| Team | BPI | KPI | NET | KPR | SOR | TOR | WAB | KNIT |
| Utah Valley | 126 | 120 | 108 | 114 | 86 | 110 | 79 | 106 |
| Seattle | 144 | 212 | 155 | 146 | 188 | 139 | 239 | 175 |
| California Baptist | 166 | 190 | 172 | 167 | 188 | 156 | 190 | 176 |
| Abilene Christian | 244 | 238 | 228 | 219 | 188 | 200 | 206 | 218 |
| UT Arlington | 210 | 271 | 231 | 226 | 188 | 239 | 252 | 231 |
| Tarleton | 294 | 278 | 302 | 286 | 188 | 285 | 263 | 271 |
| Southern Utah | 306 | 304 | 306 | 295 | 188 | 325 | 270 | 285 |
| Utah Tech | 318 | 335 | 309 | 301 | 188 | 298 | 346 | 299 |
As described above, the Western Athletic Conference's status as an exempt-bid conference is uncertain.

### Automatic qualifiers

Additionally, automatic bids were given to regular-season conference champions with an average ranking (or "KNIT" score) of 125 or better across the BPI, KPI, NET, KenPom, SOR, Torvik and WAB rankings.
The final KNIT scores through the close of play on March 16, 2025 (Selection Sunday), of teams that were conference regular-season champions, failed to win their conference tournament and are not from conferences receiving an exempt bid are summarized in the table below.
| Team | Conference | BPI | KPI | NET | KPR | SOR | TOR | WAB | KNIT |
| Bucknell | Patriot League | 215 | 243 | 213 | 225 | 188 | 214 | 205 | 215 |
| Central Connecticut | Northeast | 167 | 183 | 168 | 183 | 113 | 194 | 104 | 159 |
| Chattanooga | Southern | 134 | 88 | 115 | 110 | 96 | 135 | 89 | 110 |
| Northern Colorado | Big Sky | 128 | 143 | 114 | 122 | 110 | 119 | 91 | 118 |
| Quinnipiac | MAAC | 202 | 195 | 191 | 213 | 179 | 210 | 187 | 197 |
| South Alabama | Sun Belt | 138 | 158 | 123 | 121 | 136 | 136 | 135 | 135 |
| Southeast Missouri State | Ohio Valley | 243 | 198 | 188 | 204 | 188 | 197 | 175 | 199 |
| Southern | SWAC | 220 | 228 | 224 | 233 | 179 | 215 | 143 | 206 |
| Towson | CAA | 145 | 114 | 151 | 154 | 124 | 168 | 122 | 140 |
Teams qualifying for and acccepting automatic bids were as follows:
| Team | Conference | Overall Record | Appearance | Last Bid |
| Chattanooga | Southern | 24–9 (.727) | 5th | 1987 |
| Northern Colorado | Big Sky | 25–9 (.735) | 1st | Never |

### At-large bids

The following teams were awarded at-large bids.
| Team | Conference | Overall Record | Appearance | Last Bid |
| Arkansas State | Sun Belt | 24–10 (.706) | 5th | 1991 |
| Cal State Northridge | Big West | 22–10 (.688) | 1st | Never |
| Dayton | Atlantic 10 | 22–10 (.688) | 28th | 2022 |
| Florida Atlantic | American | 18–15 (.545) | 2nd | 2011 |
| Furman | Southern | 25–9 (.735) | 3rd | 2019 |
| Georgia Tech | ACC | 17–16 (.515) | 10th | 2017 |
| Jacksonville State | Conference USA | 22–12 (.647) | 1st | Never |
| Kent State | Mid-American | 22–11 (.667) | 10th | 2011 |
| Loyola Chicago | Atlantic 10 | 22–11 (.667) | 7th | 2024 |
| North Alabama | ASUN | 24–10 (.706) | 1st | Never |
| Northern Iowa | Missouri Valley | 20–12 (.625) | 3rd | 2022 |
| Saint Louis | Atlantic 10 | 19–14 (.576) | 21st | 2022 |
| Saint Joseph's | Atlantic 10 | 22–12 (.647) | 18th | 2024 |
| Samford | Southern | 22–10 (.688) | 1st | Never |
| Santa Clara | West Coast | 20–12 (.625) | 7th | 2023 |
| St. Bonaventure | Atlantic 10 | 22–11 (.667) | 18th | 2022 |
| UAB | American | 22–12 (.647) | 14th | 2023 |
| UC Riverside | Big West | 21–12 (.636) | 1st | Never |
| Wichita State | American | 19–14 (.576) | 14th | 2019 |
The NCAA caused confusion on Selection Sunday, by failing to communicate with at least one program invited to the NIT prior to the initial release of the bracket. Instead, it appears the NCAA assumed that mid-major schools would not decline an NIT bid. UC Riverside had already confirmed their participation in the 2025 College Basketball Invitational, before learning they had been invited to the NIT. For a brief time, NIT and CBI brackets co-existed showing UC Riverside playing in both tournaments. Participation in multiple postseason tournaments is not permitted under NCAA rules. After UC Riverside's commitment to play in the CBI came to the attention of the NCAA, instead of communicating with UC Riverside, they contacted South Alabama, the top remaining at-large team, and extended an NIT invitation to them. As the NCAA was communicating with South Alabama, UC Riverside was in contact with CBI organizers to decline their invitation to that tournament, so they could play in the NIT. After their commitment to the CBI was dissolved, UC Riverside contacted the NCAA and accepted their bid to the NIT. Just an hour after extending the invitation, the NCAA contacted South Alabama and informed them their bid to the NIT had been revoked.

### Declined bids
#### Teams contractually obligated to decline

Teams from the Big East, Big Ten and Big 12 conferences that were offered a bid or preemptively declined the opportunity to play in the College Basketball Crown were thereby contractually forbidden from playing in the NIT. Teams that fulfilled their obligations to decline were
* Arizona State
* Butler
* Cincinnati
* Colorado
* DePaul
* Georgetown
* Indiana
* Iowa
* Kansas State
* Nebraska
* Northwestern
* Ohio State
* Penn State
* Rutgers
* TCU
* UCF
* USC
* Utah
* Villanova
* West Virginia

#### Other teams declining bids

* Boise State†
* Florida State
* LSU
* Minnesota
* Nevada
* Pittsburgh
* Providence
* Seton Hall
* South Carolina
* UNLV
* Wake Forest
* Washington
† Played in College Basketball Crown.

#### Ivy League teams

As described in detail above, it is unclear whether the Ivy League was an exempt-bid conference. If it was, all seven of its non-NCAA tournament teams declined bids to the NIT, since no Ivy League teams are participating.

## Bracket

All seeded teams are hosting their first-round games, except for Dayton, because the First Four of the 2025 NCAA tournament is being played on their home court.

### Dallas Region

| First Round March 18–19 Campus Sites | First Round March 18–19 Campus Sites | First Round March 18–19 Campus Sites | Second Round March 22–23 Campus Sites | Second Round March 22–23 Campus Sites |
| 1 | SMU | | | |
| | Northern Iowa | | | |
| | | | 4 | Oklahoma State |
| 4 | Oklahoma State | 89 | 4 | Oklahoma State |
| | Wichita State | 79 | | |
| 2 | North Texas | | | |
| | Furman | | | |
| | | | 3 | Arkansas State |
| 3 | Arkansas State | 103 | 3 | Arkansas State |
| | Saint Louis | 78 | | |

### Irvine Region

| First Round March 18–19 Campus Sites | First Round March 18–19 Campus Sites | First Round March 18–19 Campus Sites | Second Round March 22–23 Campus Sites | Second Round March 22–23 Campus Sites |
| 1 | UC Irvine | | | |
| | Northern Colorado | | | |
| | | | | Jacksonville State |
| 4 | Georgia Tech | 64 | | Jacksonville State |
| | Jacksonville State | 81 | | |
| 2 | Santa Clara | 101 | | |
| | UC Riverside | 62 | | |
| | UC Riverside | 62 | 2 | Santa Clara |
| 3 | Saint Joseph's | | | |
| | UAB | | | |

### San Francisco Region

| First Round March 18–19 Campus Sites | First Round March 18–19 Campus Sites | First Round March 18–19 Campus Sites | Second Round March 22–23 Campus Sites | Second Round March 22–23 Campus Sites |
| 1 | San Francisco | | | |
| | Utah Valley | | | |
| 4 | San Jose State | | | |
| | Loyola Chicago | | | |
| 2 | Stanford | 87 | | |
| | Cal State Northridge | 70 | | |
| | Cal State Northridge | 70 | 2 | Stanford |
| | | | | Kent State |
| 3 | St. Bonaventure | 56 | | Kent State |
| | Kent State | 75 | | |

### Dayton Region

| First Round March 18–19 Campus Sites | First Round March 18–19 Campus Sites | First Round March 18–19 Campus Sites | Second Round March 22–23 Campus Sites |
| 1 | Dayton^ | | |
| | Florida Atlantic | | |
| | | | Chattanooga |
| 4 | Middle Tennessee | 103 | Chattanooga |
| | Chattanooga | 109$^{3OT}$ | |
| 2 | George Mason | | |
| | Samford | | |
| 3 | Bradley | | |
| | North Alabama | | |
    ^ Dayton's first-round game played at Florida Atlantic due to UD Arena hosting First Four 2025 NCAA tournament games

### Semifinals and final

* Semifinals April 1 Hinkle Fieldhouse
* Dallas Region winner
* Irvine Region winner
* San Francisco Region winner
* Dayton Region winner

## Game summaries

    All times are in Eastern Daylight Savings Time (UTC-4)

### First Round

* ESPNU
* March 18 7:00 p.m.
* Box Score
Kent State 75, St. Bonaventure 56 :
| Scoring by half: 29-28, 46-28 |||
| Pts: V. Davis - 14 Rebs: C. Hornbeak - 12 Asts: J. Sumlin - 4 | Pts: C. Moore - 16 Rebs: L. Jones - 7 Asts: M. Council Jr. - 4 |
| San Francisco Region |||
* Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, NY Attendance: 3,024 Referees: A. Fiore, T. Kelly, M. Luckie
* ESPN2
* March 18 7:00 p.m.
* Box Score
Jacksonville State 81, Georgia Tech 64 :
| Scoring by half: 45-33, 36-31 |||
| Pts: J. Pierre Jr. - 30 Rebs: M. Nicholson - 9 Asts: J. Pierre Jr. - 7 | Pts: 2 Tied - 7 Rebs: 2 Tied - 5 Asts: J. McCollum - 7 |
| Irvine Region |||
* McCamish Pavilion Atlanta, GA Attendance: 1,623 Referees: E. Lewis, C. Mooney, J. Pon
* ESPN+
* March 18 8:00 p.m.
* Box Score
Chattanooga 109, Middle Tennessee 103 (3OT) :
| Scoring by half: 43-48, 41-36 Overtime: 4-4, 11-11, 10-4 |||
| Pts: B. Wieland - 31 Rebs: G. Keeslar - 11 Asts: T. Bonham - 6 | Pts: C. Weston - 31 Rebs: E. Mostafa - 16 Asts: 2 Tied - 5 |
| Dayton Region |||
* Murphy Center Murfreesboro, TN Attendance: 3,505 Referees: B. Harris, J. Hicks, M. Swoboda
* ESPNU
* March 18 9:00 p.m.
* Box Score
Saint Louis 78, Arkansas State 103 :
| Scoring by half: 37-50, 41-53 |||
| Pts: R. Avila - 22 Rebs: A. McCottry - 10 Asts: A. McCottry - 3 | Pts: I. Nelson - 26 Rebs: I. Nelson - 10 Asts: 2 Tied - 7 |
| Dallas Region |||
* First National Bank Arena Jonesboro, AR Attendance: 3,143 Referees: H. Allen, C. Ford, G. Shannon
* ESPN2
* March 18 9:00 p.m.
* Box Score
Wichita State 79, Oklahoma State 89 :
| Scoring by half: 35-40, 44-49 |||
| Pts: X. Bell - 24 Rebs: C. Washington - 11 Asts: 2 Tied - 2 | Pts: B. Thompson - 23 Rebs: B. Newman - 12 Asts: K. Brantley - 4 |
| Dallas Region |||
* Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, OK Attendance: 2,295 Referees: R. Anders, R. Felder, M. Rafferty
* ESPNU
* March 18 11:00 p.m.
* Box Score
UC Riverside 62, Santa Clara 101 :
| Scoring by half: 33-44, 29-57 |||
| Pts: N. Pickens - 15 Rebs: 4 Tied - 4 Asts: B. Hargress - 5 | Pts: T. Bryan - 17 Rebs: 2 Tied - 7 Asts: E. Mahi - 5 |
| Irvine Region |||
* Leavey Center Santa Clara, CA Attendance: 672 Referees: D. Dean, M. Fulton, J. Garretson
* ESPN2
* March 18 11:00 p.m.
* Box Score
Cal State Northridge 70, Stanford 87 :
| Scoring by half: 29-46, 41-41 |||
| Pts: K. Jones - 18 Rebs: G. Lewis - 7 Asts: T. Beard - 4 | Pts: M. Raynaud - 22 Rebs: M. Raynaud - 11 Asts: J. Blakes - 4 |
| San Francisco Region |||
* Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA Attendance: 1,119 Referees: L. Barney, M. Cichocki, P. Larson
* ESPN2
* March 19 7:00 p.m.
* Box Score
Florida Atlantic vs. Dayton :
* Dayton Region ||
* Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena Boca Raton, FL
* ESPN+
* March 19 7:00 p.m.
* Box Score
Samford vs. George Mason :
* Dayton Region ||
* EagleBank Arena Fairfax, VA
* ESPN+
* March 19 7:00 p.m.
* Box Score
UAB vs. Saint Joseph's :
* Irvine Region ||
* Michael J. Hagan Arena Philadelphia, PA
* ESPN+
* March 19 8:00 p.m.
* Box Score
Furman vs. North Texas :
* Dallas Region ||
* The Super Pit Denton, TX
* ESPN+
* March 19 8:00 p.m.
* Box Score
North Alabama vs. Bradley :
* Dayton Region ||
* Carver Arena Peoria, IL
* ESPN2
* March 19 9:00 p.m.
* Box Score
Northern Iowa vs. SMU :
* Dallas Region ||
* Moody Coliseum Dallas, TX
* ESPN+
* March 19 10:00 p.m.
* Box Score
Northern Colorado vs. UC Irvine :
* Irvine Region ||
* Bren Events Center Irvine, CA
* ESPNU
* March 19 11:00 p.m.
* Box Score
Utah Valley vs. San Francisco :
* San Francisco Region ||
* The Sobrato Center San Francisco, CA
* ESPN2
* March 19 11:00 p.m.
* Box Score
Loyola Chicago vs. San Jose State :
* San Francisco Region ||
* Provident Credit Union Event Center San Jose, CA

### Second Round

* March 22 11:30 a.m.
* March 22 2:00 p.m.
* March 22 7:00 p.m.
* March 23 2:00 p.m.
* March 23 4:00 p.m.
* March 23 7:30 p.m.
* March 23 9:00 p.m.
* March 23 9:30 p.m.

### Quarterfinals

* March 25 7:00 p.m.
* March 25 9:00 p.m.
* March 26 7:00 p.m.
* March 26 9:00 p.m.

### Semifinals

* April 1 7:00 p.m.
* April 1 9:30 p.m.

### Final

* April 3 7:00 p.m.

## Quality of participating teams compared with College Basketball Crown

Fox Sports leveraged its media rights relationship with the Big East, Big Ten and Big 12 conferences to create the CBC and thereby create postseason college basketball content for itself. Each of those three conferences committed to send at least two teams to the CBC. In addition, non-NCAA tournament teams from those three conferences were contractually prohibited from playing in any other postseason tournament, including the NIT, if they declined an invitation or removed themselves from consideration for a bid to the CBC. Even if Big East, Big Ten or Big 12 schools might have preferred to play NIT games at home instead of CBC games in Las Vegas or anticipated they might have more attractive matchups in the NIT, they did not have that option, which may have degraded the quality of the NIT field. No Big East or Big Ten teams appeared in the 2025 NIT, and Oklahoma State was the only Big 12 team to accept an NIT bid. Georgia Tech, SMU and Stanford were the only other power conference teams to accept bids to the NIT.
An analysis of the NET rankings as of Selection Sunday for the teams participating in the 2025 CBC and NIT is set forth in the table below.
| CBC participants | CBC participants | NIT participants | NIT participants | NIT participants | NIT participants |
| Team | NET | Team | NET | Team | NET |
| Arizona State | 74 | Arkansas State | 94 | Northern Iowa | 93 |
| Boise State | 44 | Bradley | 80 | Oklahoma State | 95 |
| Butler | 83 | Cal State Northridge | 104 | Saint Louis | 101 |
| Cincinnati | 50 | Chattanooga | 115 | Saint Joseph's | 76 |
| Colorado | 86 | Dayton | 67 | Samford | 116 |
| DePaul | 119 | Florida Atlantic | 111 | San Francisco | 64 |
| George Washington | 124 | Furman | 127 | San Jose State | 175 |
| Georgetown | 88 | George Mason | 68 | Santa Clara | 57 |
| Nebraska | 59 | Georgia Tech | 109 | SMU | 46 |
| Oregon State | 85 | Jacksonville State | 122 | St. Bonaventure | 97 |
| Tulane | 145 | Kent State | 128 | Stanford | 81 |
| UCF | 71 | Loyola Chicago | 107 | UAB | 106 |
| USC | 70 | Middle Tennessee | 105 | UC Irvine | 62 |
| Utah | 73 | North Alabama | 113 | UC Riverside | 142 |
| Villanova | 55 | North Texas | 65 | Utah Valley | 108 |
| Washington State | 112 | Northern Colorado | 114 | Wichita State | 134 |
| Mean: 84 Median: 79 Best: 44 Worst: 145 | Mean: 84 Median: 79 Best: 44 Worst: 145 | All 32 teams Mean: 99 Median: 105 Best: 46 Worst: 175 | All 32 teams Mean: 99 Median: 105 Best: 46 Worst: 175 | Top 16 teams Mean: 78 Median: 78 Best: 46 Worst: 104 | Top 16 teams Mean: 78 Median: 78 Best: 46 Worst: 104 |
Like all metrics used to rank or rate college basketball teams, the NET is imperfect. However, it is consistently applied and represents a way in which teams can be compared. While it may appear at first glance that the CBC attracted a better quality group of participants, this can be attributed to the NIT having to fill 32 tournament berths, while the CBC had only 16. Comparing the field of CBC teams with the top 16 NIT teams reveals that the quality of the teams as measured by NET rankings is similar.

## Media

ESPN, Inc. has exclusive rights to all of the NIT games. It telecasts every game across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN+. Westwood One has exclusive radio rights to the semifinals and the championship.