The NCAA will announce the 68 teams in the 2026 men’s basketball tournament on Sunday, March 15 during the Selection Sunday Show. Following the NCAA men’s bracket, the NIT selection committee will determine the 32 teams that will compete in the 2026 National Invitational Tournament. The NIT field will be announced on March 15 at 9:30 p.m. ET.
The NIT has made multiple changes to the team selection process in recent years. Prior to 2023, a team that won its regular season conference title but did not win the postseason conference tournament secured an automatic berth in the NIT. If they ended up with an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament, they would have the option of playing in the NIT.
In 2023, the rules changed to remove that automatic qualification option. That did not make mid- and low-major schools happy because it was believed this would favor mediocre teams from power conferences. The selection process has changed multiple times since then.
The latest rules created an automatic bid for a regular-season conference champion that does not make the NCAA tournament AND has an average ranking of 125 or better across designated data metrics. The NCAA announced those include BPI, KPI, NET, KenPom, SOR, TOR, and WAB. If a regular-season champion earning an automatic bid opts out, of the NIT, the bid is eliminated and the conference runner-up does not receive it.
Additionally, there are 16 exempt bides. The ACC and SEC each receive two exempt bids, which go to the teams with the best average across the designated data metrics (BPI, KPI, NET, KenPom, SOR, TOR, and WAB). The 12 highest-rated conferences via KenPom ratings each receive one exempt bid. Within each of the 12 conferences, the team with the best average of the designated metrics receives the bid.
Automatic qualifiers (as of Sunday, 12 p.m. ET)
Belmont (Missouri Valley)
Liberty (Conference USA)
UNC Wilmington (CAA)
Navy (Patriot)
South Alabama (Sun Belt)
Stephen F. Austin (Southland)
