BREAKING: Gophers officially invited to 2024 NIT

The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) revealed its 2024 field Sunday and the Minnesota Gophers were matched up with No. 4 seeded Butler in the first round. This year’s NIT had a different selection process with the top six power conferences receiving automatic qualifying spots for their top two teams (ranked in the NET) that had not made the tournament. Schools like Memphis, St. John’s and Pittsburgh all declined invites, increasing the chance of a Gophers at-large invitation.

In round one, Minnesota will travel to Hinkle Fieldhouse to take on (18-14) Butler. Oddly enough, this season’s NIT final four will take place at Hinkle Fieldhouse, so hopefully its the first of a few games at that venue for the Gophers. If they get past the Bulldogs, they will face the winner of Indiana State and SMU, then Bradley, Loyola Chicago, Cincinnati and San Francisco are at the bottom half of the bracket.

What does the NIT mean?

Minnesota basketball has a deep NIT history, winning three titles:

– 1993
– 1998
– 2014

Bradley and St. John’s are the only two schools to have won more. Gophers also have the third most total wins of all-time (34). The NIT is obviously not the Big Dance, but it is still a great opportunity for programs like Minnesota to play postseason basketball as they continue to rebuild their program.

As a 22-year old Gophers fan, the 2014 NIT run was some of my favorite memories as a fan. People hate on the NIT and you certainly should have higher expectations as a fan, but you can enjoy this. Minnesota was picked to finish last in the preseason poll and they’re playing postseason basketball. Any normal fan should be really happy for how well this program performed this season. There were certainly missed opportunities, but this is a massive step in the right direction. Minnesota is an NIT blue-blood and its time to make another run.