1981 National Invitation Tournament

Annual NCAA college basketball competition August 2023 April 2026 NIT 1981 32 Madison Square Garden New York City Tulsa Golden Hurricane 1st Syracuse Orange 1st Purdue Boilermakers 3rd West Virginia Mountaineers 4th Nolan Richardson 1st Greg Stewart Tulsa The 1981 National Invitation Tournament was the 1981 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. Selected teams Below is a list of the 32 teams selected for the tournament.Tournament Results (1980's) at nit.org, URL accessed November 7, 2009. Archived 11/7/09 Alabama American Clemson Connecticut Dayton Drake Duke Duquesne Fordham Georgia Holy Cross Marquette Michigan Minnesota North Carolina A&T Old Dominion Pan American Penn Purdue Rhode Island St. John's San Jose State South Alabama South Florida Southern Miss Syracuse Temple Texas–Arlington Toledo Tulsa UTEP West Virginia Bracket thumb|right|Duke's Kenny Dennard surrounded by Alabama players in a Second Round game. Below are the four first round brackets, along with the four-team championship bracket. First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Syracuse 88 Marquette 81 Holy Cross 56 Southern Miss 54 Michigan 74 Duquesne 58 Toledo 91 American 83 Syracuse 77 Holy Cross 57 Michigan 80 Toledo 68 Syracuse 91 Michigan 76 First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Purdue 84 Rhode Island 58 Dayton 66 Fordham 65 Duke 79 North Carolina A&T 69 Alabama 73 St. John's 69 Purdue 50 Dayton 46 Duke 75 Alabama 70 Purdue 81 Duke 69 First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Connecticut 65 South Florida 55 Minnesota 90 Drake 77 West Virginia 67 Penn 64 Temple 90 Clemson 82 Connecticut 66 Minnesota 84 West Virginia 77 Temple 76 Minnesota 69 West Virginia 80 First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Tulsa 81 Pan American 71 UTEP 57 San Jose State 53 Georgia 74 Old Dominion 60 South Alabama 74 Texas–Arlington 71 Tulsa 76 UTEP 72 Georgia 72 South Alabama 73 Tulsa 69 South Alabama 68 Semifinals & finals Semifinals Final Syracuse 70 Purdue 63 West Virginia 87 Tulsa 89 Syracuse 84 Tulsa 86 Third place game Purdue 75 West Virginia 72 See also 1981 NCAA Division I basketball tournament 1981 NCAA Division II basketball tournament 1981 NCAA Division III basketball tournament 1981 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament 1981 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament 1981 National Women's Invitational Tournament References National Invitation National Invitation Tournament Category:1980s in Manhattan Category:Basketball in New York City Category:College sports in New York City National Invitation Tournament Category:National Invitation Tournament Category:Basketball competitions in New York City Category:Sports competitions in Manhattan