The 2025 NIT bracket has been revealed — a field of 32 teams that did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament competing for a chance to win a consolation prize. However, as is the case every year, a group of teams will decline a bid. It could be that the school is disappointed it didn’t get a chance at the big dance, or wants to get a head start on recruiting, among other reasons. Let’s go over which schools turned down a 2025 NIT bid.
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Indiana
The Hoosiers probably have the biggest gripe here. Many experts had them in the field for the NCAA Tournament, but in the eyes of the committee, they didn’t do enough. At DraftKings Sportsbook, 95% of the bets for 99% of the money was on Indiana to make the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers went 19-13 overall in Mike Woodson’s final season and finished ninth place in the Big Ten.
Pittsburgh
After a strong start to the season, the Panthers finished just 17-15, including 8-12 in ACC play.
Northwestern
Northwestern had some solid wins on the season, and finished over .500 at 17-16. But the Wildcats were too inconsistent, and opted to end their season.
Wake Forest
The Demon Deacons went 21-11 overall on the season, including 13-7 in ACC play. That was good enough for the 4-seed in the conference, but Wake lost to North Carolina in its first game of the ACC Tournament.
Rutgers
Rutgers was led by an insanely talented duo of freshman in Ace Bailey and Dillon Harper. Both project as top-five picks in the NBA Draft, but it didn’t translate to success on the court. Rutgers finished with a losing record of 15-17.
South Carolina and LSU
I opted to pair these two together based on how insane the SEC was this season. In the 16-team league, a whopping 14 made the NCAA Tournament. These were the two bottom teams in the conference that were left out of the field. LSU was 3-15 in conference, while South Carolina was 2-16. These teams were much better than their records indicated given the competition, but decided not to rep the SEC in the NIT.
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
