NIT History
| NIT champions, Runners-up and MVP's | |||
| Year | Champion | Runner-up | MVP |
| 2002 | Memphis | South Carolina | Dajuan Wagner, Memphis |
| 2001 | Tulsa | Alabama | Marcus Hill, Tulsa |
| 2000 | Wake Forest | Notre Dame | Robert O'Kelley, Wake |
| 1999 | California | Clemson | Sean Lampley, Cal |
| 1998 | Minnesota | Penn State | Kevin Clark, Minn. |
| 1997 | Michigan | Florida State | Robert Traylor, Mich. |
| 1996 | Nebraska | St. Joseph's | Erick Strickland, Nebraska |
| 1995 | Virginia Tech | Marquette | Shawn Smith, Va. Tech |
| 1994 | Villanova | Vanderbilt | Doremus Bennerman, Siena |
| 1993 | Minnesota | Georgetown | Voshon Lenard, Minn. |
| 1992 | Virginia | Notre Dame | Bryant Stith, Virginia |
| 1991 | Stanford | Oklahoma | Adam Keefe, Stanford |
| 1990 | Vanderbilt | St. Louis | Scott Draud, Vanderbilt |
| 1989 | St. John's | St. Louis |
Jayson Williams, St. John's |
| 1988 | Connecticut | Ohio State | Phil Gamble, Connecticut |
| 1987 | Southern Miss. | La Salle |
Randolph Keys, Southern Miss. |
| 1986 | Ohio State | Wyoming | Brad Sellers, Ohio State |
| 1985 | UCLA | Indiana | Reggie Miller, UCLA |
| 1984 | Michigan | Notre Dame | Tim McCormick, Mich. |
| 1983 | Fresno State | DePaul | Ron Anderson, Fresno St. |
| 1982 | Bradley | Purdue | Mitchell Anderson, Bradley |
| 1981 | Tulsa | Syracuse | Greg Stewart, Tulsa |
| 1980 | Virginia | Minnesota | Ralph Sampson, Virginia |
| 1979 | Indiana | Purdue | Butch Carter and Ray Tolbert, Indiana |
| 1978 | Texas | N.C. State | Jim Krivacs and Ron Baxter, Texas |
| 1977 | St. Bonaventure | Houston | Greg Sanders, St. Bonaventure |
| 1976 | Kentucky | UNC Charlotte |
Cedric Maxwell, UNC Charlotte |
| 1975 | Princeton | Providence | Ron Lee, Oregon |
| 1974 | Purdue | Utah | Mike Sojourner, Utah |
| 1973 | Virginia Tech | Notre Dame | John Shumate, ND |
| 1972 | Maryland | Niagara | Tom McMillen, Maryland |
| 1971 | North Carolina | Georgia Tech | Bill Chamberlain, UNC |
| 1970 | Marquette | St. John's | Dean Meminger, Marquette |
| 1969 | Temple | Boston College | Terry Driscoll, BC |
| 1968 | Dayton | Kansas | Don May, Dayton |
| 1967 | Southern Illinois | Marquette | Walt Frazier, So. Illinois |
| 1966 | Brigham Young | New York Univ. | Bill Melchionni, Villanova |
| 1965 | St. John's | Villanova | Ken McIntyre, St. John's |
| 1964 | Bradley | New Mexico | Lavern Tart, Bradley |
| 1963 | Providence | Canisius | Ray Flynn, Providence |
| 1962 | Dayton | St. John's | Bill Chmielewski, Dayton |
| 1961 | Providence | St. Louis | Vin Ernst, Providence |
| 1960 | Bradley | Providence | Lenny Wilkens, Providence |
| 1959 | St. John's | Bradley | Tony Jackson, St. John's |
| 1958 | Xavier | Dayton | Hank Stein, Xavier |
| 1957 | Bradley | Memphis State | Win Wilfong, Memphis St. |
| 1956 | Louisville | Dayton | Charlie Tyra, Louisville |
| 1955 | Duquesne | Dayton |
Maurice Stokes, St. Francis (Pa.) |
| 1954 | Holy Cross | Duquesne | Togo Palazzi, HC |
| 1953 | Seton Hall | St. John's | Walter Dukes, SH |
| 1952 | La Salle | Dayton | Tom Gola and Norm Grekin, La Salle |
| 1951 | Brigham Young | Dayton | Roland Minson, BYU |
| 1950 | CCNY | Bradley | Ed Warner, CCNY |
| 1949 | San Francisco | Loyola of Chicago | Don Lofgran, SF |
| 1948 | St. Louis | New York University | Ed Macauley, St. Louis |
| 1947 | Utah | Kentucky | Vern Gardner, Utah |
| 1946 | Kentucky | Rhode Island | Ernie Calverley, RI |
| 1945 | DePaul | Bowling Green State | George Mikan, DePaul |
| 1944 | St. John's | DePaul | Bill Kotsores, St. John's |
| 1943 | St. John's | Toledo |
Harry Boykoff, St. John's |
| 1942 | West Virginia | Western Kentucky | Rudy Baric, West Va. |
| 1941 | Long Island Univ. | Ohio University | Frankie Baumholtz, Ohio U. |
| 1940 | Colorado | Duquesne | Bob Doll, Colorado |
| 1939 | Long Island Univ. | Loyola of Chicago | Bill Lloyd, St. John's |
| 1938 | Temple | Colorado | Don Shields, Temple |
NIT Quick Facts
- Most NIT appearances: St. John's 26
- Most NIT championships: St. John's 5 (1943-44-59-65-89); Bradley 4 (1957-60-64-82)
| Expanding the field | |
| Teams | Year |
| 6 | 1941 |
| 12 | 1949 |
| 14 | 1965 |
| 16 | 1968 |
| 24 | 1979 |
| 32 | 1980 |
| 40 | 2002 |
| Most appearances in NIT finals | |||||
| School | No. | Champion | 2nd place | 3rd | 4th |
| St. John's | 15 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Bradley | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Dayton | 8 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Duquesne | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| St. Bonaventure | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| NYU | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Providence | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| DePaul | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Army | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Villanova | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
