NIT Factoid

[NJRedman]

St. John's has played Seton Hall, Villanova, Marquette, DePaul and Georgetown* in the NIT finals. We are 3-2 in those games. If Saint Louis or Dayton ever gets added to the Big East they can also get added to that list.

*I was at that game against Georgetown and rushed the court to celebrate with Marcus Hatten and the rest of the Johnnies.

[ecasadoSBU]

worth giving some context: even thought the NIT has been largely irrelevant post-1980. It was a prestigious tournament before then and SJU won 4 of them before the 80s

[scoscox]

Xavier became the 1st Ohio school to win a national championship in basketball with the NIT win in 1958. Dayton lost in the NIT finals 5 times in the 40's and 50's (one of them the '58 final to Xavier). Ohio State won the NCAA title in 1960 and UC repeated in '61 and '62 over Ohio State both times.

Golden Age of Ohio basketball. Oscar Robertson, John Havlicek, Jerry Lucas

In 1958, Xavier started off red hot and earned an invitation to the NIT early in the year. They tanked down the stretch of the regular season and the NIT asked them to decline their invite in order to invite another team. They refused and went on to win the whole thing, beating Bradley, Niagara, St. Bonaventure, and Dayton in the final. In the top half of the bracket, St. John's beat Butler in the first round, Utah in the second, and lost to Dayton in the semi-finals.

[novahoops11]

St Johns played Nova for the NIT championship in 1965 and won 55-51. Nova turned down an NCAA tournament bid that year; the story was the NCAA wanted to send Nova to the Midwest and Jack Kraft said no thanks. Nova beat the Johnnies at home in February that year.

https://www.nytimes.com/1965/02/25/archives/nit-lands-villanova-detroit-and-boston-college-quintets.html?searchResultPosition=6

https://www.nytimes.com/1965/02/10/archives/villanova-downs-st-johns-52-to-43-melchionni-and-washington-stand.html?searchResultPosition=8

[Django]

Creighton was in the “Final Four” in the 1942 NIT, third place, beat Toledo. In 1942 the NIT was EVERYTHING

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

St. John's has played Seton Hall, Villanova, Marquette, DePaul and Georgetown* in the NIT finals. We are 3-2 in those games

There’s a lot more information about St. John’s in the NIT on this post: History of the NIT and the NCAA Tournament – Post #23 of 23
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worth giving some context: even thought the NIT has been largely irrelevant post-1980. It was a prestigious tournament before then and SJU won 4 of them before the 80s

You’re right. This post has the details: History of the NIT and the NCAA Tournament – Post #5

When did the NCAA Tournament become more prestigious than the NIT ?

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Dayton lost in the NIT finals 5 times in the 40's and 50's.

Dayton never played in the NIT in the 1940’s.

Xavier became the 1st Ohio school to win a national championship in basketball with the NIT win in 1958.

No, they didn’t. This post has the details: History of the NIT and the NCAA Tournament – Post #16