NEW YORK---The ESPN Networks, which includes ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN Classic, will provide coverage of all 31 games of the Postseason National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Classic will be simulcast on ESPN360.com.The announcement was made today by Greg Shaheen, President of the NIT, LLC.

“We are pleased with the increase in ESPN’s coverage of the NIT. The NIT committee and staff have worked diligently over the past two seasons to enhance the event, such seeding the entire field and automatic qualification for regular-season conference champions. Last year, the interest from fans, media and the basketball community as a whole was unprecedented,” continued Shaheen.

Teams for the 71st annual NIT will be selected on March 15th in Indianapolis. NIT Committee Chair C.M. Newton leads a group comprised of Rudy Davalos, Don DeVoe, Eddie Fogler, Gene Keady, Reggie Minton, Jack Powers and Carroll Williams.

The first three rounds of the 2008 NIT will be played at campus sites with the semi-final doubleheader and championship game to be contested at New York’s Madison Square Garden, on April 1 and 3rd.

The National Invitation Tournament was founded in 1938 by a group of New York City sportswriters. The NIT Season Tip-Off is conducted in November and features a 16-team field and was started in 1985. In August of 2005, the NIT LLC, which is under the umbrella of the NCAA, assumed control of the NIT. An independent at-large committee selects the field for both events. Since the inception of both Tournaments, tens of thousands of student-athletes and coaches have participated in the events. Visit www.nit.org for more details on Tournament history, selection committee and procedures.

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