2002 National Invitation Tournament

2002 National Invitation Tournament

Season	2001–02
Teams	40
Finals site	Madison Square Garden New York City
Champions	Memphis (1st title)
Runner-up	South Carolina (1st title game)
Semifinalists	Temple (4th semifinal) Syracuse (2nd semifinal)
Winning coach	John Calipari (1st title)
MVP	Dajuan Wagner (Memphis)
National Invitation Tournaments «2001 2003»

The 2002 National Invitation Tournament was the 2002 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition.

Selected teams

Below is a list of the 40 teams selected for the tournament.

Participants
School	Conference
Arizona State	Pac-10
Ball State	MAC
Bowling Green	MAC
BYU	MWC
Butler	Horizon
UC Irvine	Big West
Dayton	A-10
Detroit	Horizon
Fresno State	WAC
George Mason	CAA
Georgia State	A-Sun
Houston	C-USA
Iowa	Big Ten
Louisiana-Lafayette	Sun Belt
LSU	SEC
Louisiana Tech	WAC
Louisville	C-USA
Manhattan	MAAC
Memphis	C-USA
Minnesota	Big Ten
Montana State	Big Sky
UNLV	MWC
New Mexico	MWC
UNC-Greensboro	SoCon
Princeton	Ivy
Richmond	A-10
Rutgers	Big East
St. Bonaventure	A-10
St. Joseph's	A-10
South Carolina	SEC
South Florida	C-USA
Syracuse	Big East
Temple	A-10
Tennessee Tech	OVC
Utah State	Big West
Vanderbilt	SEC
Villanova	Big East
Virginia	ACC
Wagner	NEC
Yale	Ivy

Georgetown declines invitation

Georgetown originally was among the teams selected, but declined to take part. Hoyas head coach Craig Esherick explained that Georgetown's home court, the MCI Center, was booked to host the East Regional of the 2002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, meaning that accepting the NIT invitation would have required the Hoyas to play on the road in the West for two weeks, forcing his players to miss many of their classes. After playing a similar schedule the previous season during the 2001 NCAA Tournament, Esherick had concluded that missing so many classes to play in the NIT, a tournament which did not offer a chance for a national championship, was not in the best interest of Georgetown's players. Esherick's controversial decision meant that Georgetown had no postseason play for the first time since the 1973–74 season.

Brackets/Results

Below are the four first round brackets, along with the four-team championship bracket.

	Opening Round					First Round					Second Round					Quarterfinals
							Syracuse	76
							St. Bonaventure	66
												Syracuse	66
											Butler	65
							Butler	81
							Bowling Green	69
																	Syracuse	62
																	Richmond	46
							Minnesota	96
							New Mexico	62
												Minnesota	66
											Richmond	67
		Richmond	74
		Wagner	67
							Richmond	63
							Montana State	48
		Montana State	77
		Utah State	69

	Opening Round					First Round					Second Round					Quarterfinals
		Ball State	98
		South Florida	92
							Ball State	75
							St. Joseph's	65
		St. Joseph's	73
		George Mason	64
												Ball State	75
											LSU	65
							LSU	63
							Iowa	61
																	Ball State	47
																	South Carolina	82
							UNLV	96
							Arizona State	91
												UNLV	65
											South Carolina	75
							South Carolina	74
							Virginia	67

	Opening Round					First Round					Second Round					Quarterfinals
							Temple	81
							Fresno State	75
												Temple	65
											Louisville	62
							Louisville	66
							Princeton	65
																	Temple	63
																	Villanova	57
							Villanova	84
							Manhattan	69
												Villanova	67
											LA Tech	64
		LA Tech	83
		Louisiana-Lafayette	63
							LA Tech	83
							Vanderbilt	68
		Vanderbilt	59
		Houston	50

	Opening Round					First Round					Second Round					Quarterfinals
		Tennessee Tech	64
		Georgia State	62
							Tennessee Tech	68
							Dayton	59
		Dayton	80
		Detroit	69
												Tennessee Tech	80
											Yale	61
							Yale	67
							Rutgers	65
																	Tennessee Tech	73
																	Memphis	79
							BYU	78
							UC Irvine	55
												BYU	69
											Memphis	80
							Memphis	82
							UNC-Greensboro	62

Semifinals & Finals

	Semifinals					Finals
		Syracuse	59
		South Carolina	66
							South Carolina	62
							Memphis	72
		Temple	77
		Memphis	79

• Third Place - Temple 65, Syracuse 64