By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
March 24, 2007

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The National Invitation Tournament has been called -- among other things -- the “Not Important Tournament” and the “Not Invited Tournament.” N.C. State All-American David Thompson referred to it as a “loser’s tournament” in 1975 -- a year after his Wolfpack team won the national title but failed to make the NCAAs.

	Guard Diego McCoy scored a career-high 30 points in West Virginia's NIT semifinal loss to Tulsa in 1981. WVU Sports Communications photo

Today, many consider the NIT as the tournament that crowns the nation’s “66th best team.” Prominent schools have even refused to play in the NIT when they were not invited to the NCAA tournament.

Nearly 70 years ago when the NIT first began, the impression of the tournament was much different. A year older than the NCAA tournament, the NIT often attracted the nation’s best basketball teams for several reasons.

One, there was limited media exposure for college basketball in the 1940s and performing in New York City provided teams the opportunity to play in the nation’s largest city. Players hoping for a shot at professional basketball were afforded the opportunity to showcase their skills before pro scouts.

The NIT was also able to invite teams that didn’t win their conference championships. At the time, the NCAA tournament was made up solely of conference champions with many slots being occupied by schools from smaller conferences. Prestigious universities like Marquette, Notre Dame, DePaul and West Virginia did not belong to conferences and were not permitted to play in the NCAA tournament.

Another benefit the NIT enjoyed was the fact that many conferences in the 1940s were segregated. That made it possible for the NIT to invite schools with black players that otherwise may not have been able to participate in the NCAA tournament.

In 1950 CCNY won both the NIT and NCAA tournaments, beating Bradley on both occasions.

But by the 1960s, the NCAA tournament became college basketball’s premier post-season event due to the field being expanded to include more conference champions and the awarding of “at-large” bids.

Perhaps the last elite team to play in the NIT was Al McGuire’s No. 8-rated Marquette Warriors, who chose to boycott the NCAA tournament because they were slotted in the Midwest Regional further away from their campus. The last wire service Top 10 team to participate in the NIT was North Carolina in 1974 -- a first-round loser to Purdue.

NIT attendance slipped to an all-time low in 1976 when Kentucky won the title. A year later in 1977, Pete Carlesimo, the father of P.J. Carlesimo, saved the NIT by coming up with a plan to play the early round games on campus sites before coming to New York.

In 2005, the NIT received a $56.5 million settlement from the NCAA for its antitrust lawsuit. As part of the agreement, the NCAA took over the tournament and implemented a selection process similar to the NCAA tournament -- inviting the next 32 best teams instead of schools that could simply sell tickets.

The new format has pumped life and excitement back into the NIT. The games this year have been exciting and interesting; Syracuse establishing a single-game attendance record with 26,752 spectators watching the Orange knock off San Diego State last week.

“I think they have the right concept because they still have to pay the bills now,” said West Virginia coach John Beilein, who made a previous trip to New York City while coaching at Canisius.

All four No. 1 seeds will meet at Madison Square Garden in New York City next Tuesday night, West Virginia facing Mississippi State in one game at 7 pm and Clemson taking on Air Force in the nightcap.

The two winners will play for the NIT title Thursday night.

“You look at the teams left, ourselves, Mississippi State, Air Force and Clemson – we’ve all had pretty good home records," said Beilein. "Most everybody in the past has had to win one road game; very rarely do they get three homes. At the same time, I’m glad that we were a No. 1 seed because those last two that we won – on the road they could have gone either way as well.”

It will be West Virginia’s first NIT semifinal trip to New York since 1981. The Mountaineers were crowned NIT champions in 1942, the No. 8 seeds upsetting No. 1-seeded Long Island, Toledo and Western Kentucky to capture the championship. It is basketball’s only national tournament championship in school history.

	Guard Seldon Jefferson averaged 20 points per game in NIT action and hit the game-sealing free throws to defeat N.C. State in Raleigh in 1997. WVU Sports Communications photo

Here is a ranking of West Virginia’s 19 all-time NIT victories:

19. West Virginia 65, Muhlenberg 40 (March 20, 1946)
The Mountaineers recovered from their NIT semifinal loss to Kentucky by defeating Muhlenberg 65-40 in the consolation game a day later. Leland Bryd led West Virginia with 18 points.

18. West Virginia 85, Davidson 69 (March 17, 1994)
Just 3,404 showed up to watch West Virginia deposit Davidson in this 1994 NIT first-round game at the WVU Coliseum. P.G. Greene led WVU with 19 points and seven rebounds.

17. West Virginia 86, Furman 67 (March 15, 1991)
Another Coliseum snoozer, 8,000 seats disguised as fans watched the Mountaineers pull away from the Paladins after leading by just one at halftime. Chris Leonard made five 3-point field goals and finished with a game-high 23 points.

16. West Virginia 65, Kent State 54 (March 17, 2004)
WVU went on the road to beat Kent State 65-54 in an NIT opening round game at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center. Tyrone Sally led three double-figure scorers with 17 points.

15. West Virginia 74, Delaware State 50 (March 13, 2007)
The Hornets dug themselves a deep hole and trailed West Virginia, 39-13 at halftime. The Mountaineer Ticket Office spent the second half preparing for West Virginia’s NIT second round game two days later.

14. West Virginia 79, Rhode Island 72 (March 19, 2004)
John Beilein and Jim Barron renewed a coaching rivalry that first began when Beilein was at Canisius and Barron was coaching St. Bonaventure. Beilein’s bunch got the best of Barron’s URI team at the Coliseum to advance to the second round.

13. West Virginia 95, Georgia 84 (March 17, 1993)
Both teams would have preferred being in the NCAA tournament, but the two did put on a high scoring and entertaining game at the Coliseum. West Virginia shot 54.5 percent for the game, overcoming Charles Claxton’s 21-point, 16-rebound double-double effort.

12. West Virginia 90, Massachusetts 70 (March 15, 2007)
UMass guard James Life tried to drag West Virginia’s Frank Young out into the alley but the classy senior wouldn’t take the bait. Instead, he dropped a career-high 31 on the Minutemen by making 11 of 15 shots.

	Greg Jones

11. West Virginia 77, Temple 76 (March 16, 1981)
West Virginia needed an overtime session to knock off Temple 77-76 in an NIT second-round game at the WVU Coliseum before 12,079. Vic Herbert’s shot from the corner with 24 seconds left sent the game into overtime and the Mountaineers eventually won the game, advancing to New York City for the NIT semifinals.

10. West Virginia 98, Bowling Green 95 (March 12, 1997)
West Virginia outlasted Bowling Green in one of the most entertaining games ever played in the Coliseum. Seldon Jefferson scored 29 points and Gordon Malone had a 24-point, 18-rebound performance, erasing a 38-point effort by the Falcons’ Antonio Daniels.

9. West Virginia 51, Toledo 39 (March 23, 1942)
Rudy Baric scored 16 points and Roger “Shorty” Nicks contributed 12 to lead West Virginia past Toledo in the semifinals of the 1942 NIT championship in New York City. Toledo made a return trip to the NIT in 1943 behind the play of “Friddle’s Freshmen.” The Rockets lost to St. John’s in the NIT finals in '43.

8. West Virginia 76, North Carolina State 73 (March 17, 1997)
West Virginia went on the road to knock off N.C. State 76-73 at Reynolds Memorial Coliseum. Seldon Jefferson scored 19 points and made two critical free throws late to preserve the victory.

7. West Virginia 67, Penn 64 (March 13, 1981)
Post-season fever took over the Mountain State when West Virginia played host to Penn for the school’s first post-season appearance in 13 years. WVU raced out to a 13-point first half lead before the Quakers made a second-half run. Penn led by four with three minutes remaining until a pair of three-point plays by Russel Todd and Greg Jones pulled the game out for West Virginia.

6. West Virginia 71, North Carolina State 66 (March 20, 2007)
N.C. State upset its way to the ACC finals and was looking forward to its rematch with West Virginia with point guard Engin Atsur available for this game. A pair of Frank Young 3-point baskets late erased a four-point Wolfpack lead and helped the Mountaineers return to the NIT semifinals for the first time in 26 years.

5. West Virginia 69, Bradley 60 (March 15, 1947)
The Mountaineers jumped out to an 11-point first-half lead and held on to defeat college basketball power Bradley in the 1947 NIT quarterfinals. Leland Bryd scored 19 points to lead four double-digit West Virginia scorers.

4. West Virginia 70, St. John’s 58 (March 14, 1946)
The Mountaineers upset two-time NIT champion St. John’s in their home city in the NIT quarterfinals. Waiting until 10 pm to play the nightcap, Leland Bryd had his best post-season performance scoring 28 points. Six-nine St. John’s center Harry Boykoff was held to just seven points.

3. West Virginia 80, Minnesota 69 (March 19, 1981)
The Mountaineers traveled out to Minneapolis and ran away with an 80-69 victory over the Golden Gophers in Williams Arena. Guards Greg Jones and Diego McCoy combined to score 37 points and hand out nine assists. Seven-foot-three-inch Minnesota center Randy Breuer scored 17 points and all-Big Ten guard Trent Tucker added 13.

	Dyke Raese

2. West Virginia 47, Western Kentucky 45 (March 25, 1942) West Virginia coach Dyke Raese chose to neutralize Western Kentucky’s fast-break offense with a deliberate style that held the Hilltoppers to just 13 second-half points in a 47-45 NIT championship game victory. Tournament MVP Rudy Baric scored 17 points in the deciding game.

1. West Virginia 58, Long Island 49 (March 17, 1942)
No. 1-seeded Long Island was a heavy favorite to defeat No. 8 West Virginia in the NIT quarterfinals. Coach Clair Bee’s Blackbirds stormed out to a 25-18 first-half lead but the Mountaineers came back to tie the game at 45 at the end of regulation. West Virginia outscored the defending tournament champions 13-4 in the overtime period behind the rapid-fire scoring of Dick Kesling and Rudy Baric. The two combined to score 35 of WVU’s 58 points.