2002 National Invitation Tournament

University basketball tournament in the United States August 2023 April 2026 NIT 2002 40 Madison Square Garden New York City 2001 men Memphis Tigers Memphis Tigers 1st 2001 men South Carolina Gamecocks South Carolina Gamecocks 1st Temple Owls 4th Syracuse Orangemen 2nd John Calipari 1st Dajuan Wagner Memphis 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.Tournament Results (2000's) at nit.org, URL accessed November 5, 2009. Archived 11/5/09 SchoolConferenceRecordAppearanceLast bid 2001 men Arizona State Sun Devils Arizona StatePac-1014–148th20002001 men Ball State Cardinals Ball StateMAC20–114th19982001 men Bowling Green Falcons Bowling GreenMAC24–813th2000ButlerHorizon25–57th19992001 men BYU Cougars BYUMountain West17–119th20002001 men Dayton Flyers DaytonAtlantic 1020–1020th20012001 men Detroit Titans DetroitHorizon18–128th19992001 men Fresno State Bulldogs Fresno StateWAC19–146th2001George MasonColonial19–92nd19862001 men Georgia State Panthers Georgia StateA-Sun20–101stNever2001 men Houston Cougars HoustonC-USA18–147th1993IowaBig Ten19–153rd19982001 men Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Louisiana-LafayetteSun Belt20–104th19852001 men Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Louisiana TechWAC20–95th1992LouisvilleC-USA18–1213th19852001 men LSU Tigers LSUSEC18–144th19832001 men Manhattan Jaspers ManhattanMAAC20–817th19962001 men Memphis Tigers MemphisC-USA22–915th20012001 men Minnesota Golden Gophers MinnesotaBig Ten17–1210th2001Montana StateBig Sky19–92nd19872001 men New Mexico Lobos New MexicoMountain West16–1316th2001PrincetonIvy16–115th20002001 men Richmond Spiders RichmondAtlantic 1019–136th20012001 men Rutgers Scarlet Knights RutgersBig East18–1212th20002001 men Saint Joseph's Hawks Saint Joseph'sAtlantic 1018–117th19962001 men South Carolina Gamecocks South CarolinaSEC18–148th20012001 men South Florida Bulls South FloridaC-USA19–127th20002001 men St. Bonaventure Bonnies St. BonaventureAtlantic 1017–1215th2001SyracuseBig East20–1110th1997TempleAtlantic 1015–1413th19892001 men Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles Tennessee TechOhio Valley24–62nd1985UC IrvineBig West21–104th20012001 men UNC Greensboro Spartans UNC GreensboroSouthern20–101stNever2001 men UNLV Runnin' Rebels UNLVMountain West20–106th19992001 men Utah State Aggies Utah StateBig West23–76th19952001 men Vanderbilt Commodores VanderbiltSEC16–149th20002001 men Villanova Wildcats VillanovaBig East17–1215th2001VirginiaACC17–119th20002001 men Wagner Seahawks WagnerNortheast19–92nd19792001 men Yale Bulldogs YaleIvy20–101stNever 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 Georgetowns players.Horn, David, "Georgetown's Esherick the Class Act of March," The Michigan Daily, March 13, 2002. 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.Associated Press, "Georgetown Declines NIT Bid," The Daily Utah Chronicle, March 12, 2002. https://web.archive.org/web/20170203163313/http://dailyutahchronicle.com/2002/03/12/georgetown-declines-nit-bid/ February 3, 2017 Bracket Below are the four first-round brackets, along with the four-team championship bracket. Opening Round First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Richmond 74 Wagner 67 Montana State 77 Utah State 69 Syracuse 76 St. Bonaventure 66 Butler 81 Bowling Green 69 Minnesota 96 New Mexico 62 Richmond 63 Montana State 48 Syracuse 66 Butler 65 Minnesota 66 Richmond 67 Syracuse 62 Richmond 46 Opening Round First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Ball State 98 South Florida 92 Saint Joseph's 73 George Mason 64 Ball State 75 Saint Joseph's 65 LSU 63 Iowa 61 UNLV 96 Arizona State 91 South Carolina 74 Virginia 67 Ball State 75 LSU 65 UNLV 65 South Carolina 75 Ball State 47 South Carolina 82 Opening Round First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Louisiana Tech 83 Louisiana–Lafayette 63 Vanderbilt 59 Houston 50 Temple 81 Fresno State 75 Louisville 66 Princeton 65 Villanova 84 Manhattan 69 Louisiana Tech 83 Vanderbilt 68 Temple 65 Louisville 62 Villanova 67 Louisiana Tech 64 Temple 63 Villanova 57 Opening Round First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Tennessee Tech 64 Georgia State 62 Dayton 80 Detroit 69 Tennessee Tech 68 Dayton 59 Yale 67 Rutgers 65 BYU 78 UC Irvine 55 Memphis 82 UNC Greensboro 62 Tennessee Tech 80 Yale 61 BYU 69 Memphis 80 Tennessee Tech 73 Memphis 79 Semifinals & finals Semifinals Finals Syracuse 59 South Carolina 66 Temple 77 Memphis 78 South Carolina 62 Memphis 72 Third place game Syracuse 54 Temple 65 See also 2002 Women's National Invitation Tournament 2002 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 2002 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament 2002 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament 2002 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament 2002 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament 2002 NAIA Division II men's basketball tournament References National Invitation National Invitation Tournament Category:2000s in Manhattan Category:College basketball tournaments in New York City National Invitation Tournament Category:National Invitation Tournament Category:Sports competitions in Manhattan