The National Invitation Tournament selection committee announced Sunday that LSU will be included in its 32-team field, giving the Tigers a chance to continue into the postseason.
LSU was named a four-seed in the five-round tournament during the NIT’s selection show Sunday night.
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The Tigers will face North Texas, the defending NIT champion, in the opening round on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and will host the game in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The game will be televised on SEC Network.
“We are excited about the opportunity to continue our season in the NIT this week,” head coach Matt McMahon said. “Our players and coaches are looking forward to playing in front of our fans in the PMAC on Tuesday.”
LSU and North Texas faced off earlier in the season in November at the Charleston Classic, where the Tigers prevailed 66-62.
If LSU defeats North Texas again, it will face either top-seeded Seton Hall or St. Joseph’s then, with a win, would then advance to the quarterfinals.
Both of those matches will likely be away games, but LSU could potentially host both if upsets occur in the bracket, and it ends up as the higher-seeded team.
After that, the NIT’s semifinals and championship match will take place in Indianapolis at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The semifinal matches are set for April 2, with the finals on April 4.
LSU’s invitation to the NIT came as a result of new tournament rules. Using the NET rankings, the NIT gave the top-two non-NCAA Tournament teams from the six major conferences (SEC, Big 10, Big East, Big 12, ACC and Pac-12) automatic bids to the NIT.
LSU finished the season behind teams such as Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Ole Miss in the NET rankings and barely ahead of Georgia, so it was unclear whether LSU would receive one of the SEC’s two automatic invitations.
However, with Mississippi State and Texas A&M officially in the NCAA Tournament field as of Sunday and Ole Miss publicly declining an NIT invitation, LSU clinched an NIT bid.
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Ole Miss was one of several prominent teams who declined an invite from the NIT, including Oklahoma and Pittsburgh as well as Memphis, St. John’s, Washington and Indiana.
Also in the NIT field from the SEC is Georgia.
Despite a strong close, the fate of LSU’s season was in doubt after the team was knocked out in its first game of the SEC Tournament by Mississippi State. On the year, the Tigers are 17-15 and went 9-9 in league play.
The tournament’s favorites figure to be the two participating teams designated as the first four left out of the NCAA Tournament: Seton Hall and Indiana State. Also expected to challenge for the NIT crown are Wake Forest, Kansas State, Providence, Princeton, Villanova and Ohio State.
The NIT is considered the second-most prestigious postseason tournament aside from the NCAA Tournament and performing well in it would be meaningful for an LSU program that continues to make steady progress.
Furthermore, competing in high-intensity postseason basketball will be a valuable experience for the younger players at LSU who will carry larger roles in the coming seasons.
Throughout the tournament, the NIT will be testing out a few experimental rules, such as a 16-foot free throw lane (used in the NBA) instead of the NCAA’s usual 12-foot lane.
