# 2010 National Invitation Tournament

The 2010 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The 73rd annual tournament began on March 16 on campus sites and ended on April 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Dayton won their 3rd NIT title (first title since 1968) over North Carolina, 79–68.

## Participants
### Automatic qualifiers

The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2010 NIT field after losing in their respective conference tournaments, by virtue of winning their conferences' regular season championship and not qualifying for the NCAA tournament.
| Team | Conference | Record | Appearance | Last bid |
| Coastal Carolina | Big South | 28–6 | 1st | Never |
| Jackson State | SWAC | 19–12 | 2nd | 1993 |
| Jacksonville* | Atlantic Sun | 19–12 | 6th | 2009 |
| Kent State | MAC | 23–9 | 8th | 2005 |
| Quinnipiac | Northeast | 23–9 | 1st | Never |
| Stony Brook | America East | 22–9 | 1st | Never |
| Troy | Sun Belt | 20–12 | 2nd | 2004 |
| Weber State | Big Sky | 20–10 | 3rd | 2009 |
*Jacksonville split the Atlantic Sun regular season title with Campbell, Lipscomb and Belmont, but the conference tournament was won by fifth-seeded East Tennessee State. The Dolphins earned the automatic NIT bid by advancing the furthest of the four in the Atlantic Sun tournament even though Lipscomb was the #1 seed in the tournament.
The entire 32-team field was announced on March 14, 2010, on The NIT Selection Show at 9 pm ET on ESPNU.

### Seedings

| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type |
| 1 | Illinois | Big Ten | 19–14 | At-large |
| 2 | Cincinnati | Big East | 18–15 | At-large |
| 3 | Dayton | Atlantic 10 | 20–12 | At-large |
| 4 | Kent State | MAC | 23–9 | Automatic |
| 5 | Tulsa | C-USA | 23–11 | At-large |
| 6 | Illinois State | MVC | 22–10 | At-large |
| 7 | Weber State | Big Sky | 20–10 | Automatic |
| 8 | Stony Brook | America East | 22–9 | Automatic |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type |
| 1 | Arizona State | Pac-10 | 22–10 | At-large |
| 2 | Mississippi | SEC | 21–10 | At-large |
| 3 | Memphis | C-USA | 23–9 | At-large |
| 4 | Seton Hall | Big East | 19–12 | At-large |
| 5 | Texas Tech | Big 12 | 17–15 | At-large |
| 6 | St. John's | Big East | 17–15 | At-large |
| 7 | Troy | Sun Belt | 20–12 | Automatic |
| 8 | Jacksonville | Atlantic Sun | 19–12 | Automatic |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type |
| 1 | Virginia Tech | ACC | 23–8 | At-large |
| 2 | Rhode Island | Atlantic 10 | 23–9 | At-large |
| 3 | Wichita State | MVC | 25–9 | At-large |
| 4 | Connecticut | Big East | 17–15 | At-large |
| 5 | Northeastern | CAA | 20–12 | At-large |
| 6 | Nevada | WAC | 20-12 | At-large |
| 7 | Northwestern | Big Ten | 20–13 | At-large |
| 8 | Quinnipiac | NEC | 23–9 | Automatic |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type |
| 1 | Mississippi State | SEC | 23–11 | At-large |
| 2 | UAB | C-USA | 23–8 | At-large |
| 3 | South Florida | Big East | 20–12 | At-large |
| 4 | North Carolina | ACC | 16–16 | At-large |
| 5 | William & Mary | CAA | 22–10 | At-large |
| 6 | NC State | ACC | 19–15 | At-large |
| 7 | Coastal Carolina | Big South | 28–6 | Automatic |
| 8 | Jackson State | SWAC | 19–12 | Automatic |

## Bracket

Played on the home court of the higher-seeded team (except #1 Illinois in the first round)

### Illinois bracket

| First round March 17 | First round March 17 | First round March 17 | Second round March 22 | Second round March 22 | Second round March 22 | Quarterfinals March 24 | Quarterfinals March 24 | Quarterfinals March 24 |
| 1 | Illinois | 76 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Stony Brook | 66 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Stony Brook | 66 | 1 | Illinois | 75 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Kent State | 58 | | | |
| 4 | Kent State | 75 | 4 | Kent State | 58 | | | |
| 5 | Tulsa | 74 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Tulsa | 74 | | | | 1 | Illinois | 71 |
| | | | | | | 3 | Dayton | 77 |
| 3 | Dayton | 63 | | | | | | | 3 | Dayton | 77 |
| 6 | Illinois State | 42 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Illinois State | 42 | 3 | Dayton | 81 | | | |
| | | | 2 | Cincinnati | 66 | | | |
| 2 | Cincinnati | 76 | 2 | Cincinnati | 66 | | | |
| 7 | Weber State | 62 | | | | | | |

#### Quarterfinals
### Arizona State bracket

| First round March 16–17 | First round March 16–17 | First round March 16–17 | Second round March 19–20 | Second round March 19–20 | Second round March 19–20 | Quarterfinals March 23 | Quarterfinals March 23 | Quarterfinals March 23 |
| 1 | Arizona State | 66 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Jacksonville | 67 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Jacksonville | 67 | 8 | Jacksonville | 64 | | | |
| | | | 5 | Texas Tech | 69 | | | |
| 4 | Seton Hall | 69 | 5 | Texas Tech | 69 | | | |
| 5 | Texas Tech | 87 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Texas Tech | 87 | | | | 5 | Texas Tech | 87 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Mississippi (2OT) | 90 |
| 3 | Memphis | 73 | | | | | | | 2 | Mississippi (2OT) | 90 |
| 6 | St. John's | 71 | | | | | | |
| 6 | St. John's | 71 | 3 | Memphis | 81 | | | |
| | | | 2 | Mississippi | 90 | | | |
| 2 | Mississippi | 84 | 2 | Mississippi | 90 | | | |
| 7 | Troy | 65 | | | | | | |

#### Quarterfinals
### Virginia Tech bracket

| First round March 16, 17 | First round March 16, 17 | First round March 16, 17 | Second round March 22 | Second round March 22 | Second round March 22 | Quarterfinals March 24 | Quarterfinals March 24 | Quarterfinals March 24 |
| 1 | Virginia Tech | 81 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Quinnipiac | 61 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Quinnipiac | 61 | 1 | Virginia Tech | 65 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Connecticut | 63 | | | |
| 4 | Connecticut | 59 | 4 | Connecticut | 63 | | | |
| 5 | Northeastern | 57 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Northeastern | 57 | | | | 1 | Virginia Tech | 72 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Rhode Island | 79 |
| 3 | Wichita State | 70 | | | | | | | 2 | Rhode Island | 79 |
| 6 | Nevada | 74 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Nevada | 74 | 6 | Nevada | 83 | | | |
| | | | 2 | Rhode Island | 85 | | | |
| 2 | Rhode Island | 76 | 2 | Rhode Island | 85 | | | |
| 7 | Northwestern | 64 | | | | | | |

#### First round

* ESPN2
* March 16 7:00 pm ET
* Recap
(5) Northeastern 57, (4) Connecticut 59 :
| Scoring by half: 26–34, 31–25 |||
| Pts: Matt Janning 17 Rebs: Nkem Ojougboh 7 Asts: Matt Janning 4 Blocks: Nkem Ojougboh 2 | Pts: Jerome Dyson 18 Rebs: Alex Oriakhi 9 Asts: Jerome Dyson 4 Blocks: Alex Oriakhi 2 |
* Harry S. Gampel Pavilion Attendance: 5,571 Referees: Mike Stephens, Bryan Kersey, John Gaffney

#### Second round

* ESPN
* March 22 7:00 pm ET
* Recap
(4) Connecticut 63, (1) Virginia Tech 65 :
| Scoring by half: 35–30, 28–35 |||
| Pts: Kemba Walker 18 Rebs: Stanley Robinson 8 Asts: Kemba Walker 4 Blocks: Ater Majok, Charles Okwandu 2 | Pts: Dorenzo Hudson 27 Rebs: Dorenzo Hudson 7 Asts: Malcom Delaney 9 Blocks: Terrell Bell 2 |
* Cassell Pavilion Attendance: 6,983 Referees: Karl Hess, Doug Shows, Jeff Anderson

#### Quarterfinals
### Mississippi State bracket

| First round March 16 | First round March 16 | First round March 16 | Second round March 20 | Second round March 20 | Second round March 20 | Quarterfinals March 23 | Quarterfinals March 23 | Quarterfinals March 23 |
| 1 | Mississippi State | 81 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Jackson State | 67 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Jackson State | 67 | 1 | Mississippi State | 74 | | | |
| | | | 4 | North Carolina | 76 | | | |
| 4 | North Carolina | 80 | 4 | North Carolina | 76 | | | |
| 5 | William & Mary | 72 | | | | | | |
| 5 | William & Mary | 72 | | | | 4 | North Carolina | 60 |
| | | | | | | 2 | UAB | 55 |
| 3 | South Florida | 57 | | | | | | | 2 | UAB | 55 |
| 6 | NC State | 58 | | | | | | |
| 6 | NC State | 58 | 6 | NC State | 52 | | | |
| | | | 2 | UAB | 72 | | | |
| 2 | UAB | 65 | 2 | UAB | 72 | | | |
| 7 | Coastal Carolina | 49 | | | | | | |

#### Quarterfinals
### NIT Final Four

Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City
| Semifinals March 30 | Semifinals March 30 | Semifinals March 30 | Championship April 1 | Championship April 1 | Championship April 1 |
| 3 | Dayton | 68 | | | |
| 2 | Mississippi | 63 | | | |
| 2 | Mississippi | 63 | 3 | Dayton | 79 |
| | | | 4 | North Carolina | 68 |
| 2 | Rhode Island | 67 | 4 | North Carolina | 68 |
| 4 | North Carolina (OT) | 68 | | | |

#### Finals
## Broadcasters
### Local Radio

| Teams | Flagship station | Play-by-play | Analyst |
| Connecticut | WTIC–AM | Joe D'Ambrosio | Wayne Norman |
| NC State | WRAL–FM/Wolfpack Sports Network | Gary Hahn | Tony Haynes |
| North Carolina | Leafield/Tar Heel Sports Network | Woody Durham | Eric Montross |