Women's National Invitation Tournament
Current season, competition or edition: 2024 Women's National Invitation Tournament | |
Sport | Basketball |
---|---|
Founded | 1994 (preseason) 1998 (postseason) |
Founder | Triple Crown Sports |
First season | 1994 (preseason) 1998 (postseason) |
No. of teams | 16 (preseason) 48 (postseason) |
Country | United States |
Most recent champion(s) | Texas Tech (preseason) Saint Louis (postseason) |
TV partner(s) | CBS Sports Network |
Related competitions | Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament Women's Basketball Invitational |
Official website | www |
The Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) is a women's national college basketball tournament with a preseason and postseason version played every year. It is operated in a similar fashion to the men's college National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and NIT Season Tip-Off. Unlike the NIT, the women's tournament is not run by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), but is an independent tournament. Triple Crown Sports, a company based in Fort Collins, Colorado that specializes in the promotion of amateur sporting events,[1] created the WNIT in 1994 as a preseason counterpart to the then-current National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT). After the NWIT folded in 1996, Triple Crown Sports resurrected the postseason version in 1998 under the NWIT name, but changed the following season to the current name.[2]
Format
Preseason
The WNIT began in 1994 as a 16-team preseason tournament; the preseason version has remained at that field size throughout its history except for the 2021 event, which was reduced to eight teams due to ongoing COVID-19 issues. Originally, the preseason WNIT was a single-elimination tournament, but since the 2007 edition has used a format which guarantees all participating teams three games. Since it is classified by the NCAA as an "exempt" event, a team can only participate in the preseason WNIT once every four years; additionally, only one team per conference may participate.[3]
The 2021 event involved eight teams divided into four-team pods, one hosted by Kansas State and the other by NC State. Each team played a full round-robin within its pod, followed by Kansas State traveling to NC State for a final game. No overall champion was crowned, and a separate all-tournament team was named for each pod.[4] It returned to 16 teams for 2022 and hereafter.
Postseason
The postseason WNIT started in 1998 as a 16-team tournament. It was doubled to a 32-team tournament in 1999, and once more in 2021. In 2006, competing schools assumed more responsibility, hosting the early rounds of the tourney, and additional expansion was made to forty teams. At that time, schools which won their regular-season conference title but were excluded from the NCAA tournament by having lost their conference tournament were awarded automatic bids. The field was further expanded in 2007 to 48 teams, with automatic bids awarded to each Division I conference. The tournament was expanded to 64 teams in 2021,[5] but will be reduced to 48 from 2024 & hereafter. This most recent change came shortly after the NCAA announced it would create the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament, a 32-team event whose first edition will be held in 2024.[6]
Through the 2023 edition, the postseason field consisted of 32 automatic berths – one from each conference – and 32 at-large teams. Thirty-two spots in the Postseason WNIT were filled automatically by the best item available in each of the nation's 32 conferences. If a conference's automatic qualifier team declined the WNIT invitation, the conference forfeited that automatic spot, and that selection went into the pool of at-large schools. The remaining 32 team slots in the Postseason WNIT were filled by the top teams available. Any team from a Division I conference, or a Division I independent team, may be considered. Any team considered for an at-large berth must have an overall record of .500 or better. The format won't affect the WNIT's automatic bid to any regular season conference champion not making the 68-team field, since 2022. Bids are announced on the evening of the same day that the NCAA tourney bids are made.[5] Triple Crown Sports has not yet announced the future 48-team format.[6]
The 64-team tournament had 32 first-round games, followed by 16 second-round games, eight third-round games, four quarterfinal games, two semifinal games, and the championship. Since the WNIT is a for-profit tournament, all games are played on the site of the higher bidding team.[7] The national championship game is currently carried on CBS Sports Network. Teams can host in the first round for a guarantee of $6,500 a game and in the second round for $7,500 a game. Early-round pairings are regionalized as much as possible in order to minimize missed class time and travel costs.[5]
Since 2024, this 48-team tourney has 16 games each for the first two rounds, eight third-round games, four quarterfinal games, two semifinal games and the championship.
Championship history
Postseason
*Was called National Women's Invitational Tournament.
Preseason
See also
- NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
- Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament
- Women's Basketball Invitational
- National Women's Invitational Tournament
References
- ^ "Triple Crown Sports - Home". www.triplecrownsports.com.
- ^ Cooper, Gregory. "Women's College Basketball Championship Page". womenscollegebasketballhistory.com.
- ^ "WNIT: Event Info". Triple Crown Sports. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
- ^ a b "Preseason WNIT announces field, format change for 2021 event" (Press release). Triple Crown Sports. June 10, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Event Info". womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ a b "WNIT Statement" (Press release). Triple Crown Sports. July 17, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
- ^ "FGCU sees payoff to being postseason hosts". The News-Press. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
- ^ "1994 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "Washington Huskies" (PDF). Washington Huskies. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "1995 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "1996 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "1997 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "1998 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "1999 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2000 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2001 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2002 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2003 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2004 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2005 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2006 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2007 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2008 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2009 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2010 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2011 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2012 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2013 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2014 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2015 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2016 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2017 Preseason Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2018 Preseason Championship Bracket (PDF) - WNIT Pre and Post Tournament" (PDF). womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "2019 Preseason WNIT". womensnit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.