How to Watch the NIT Selection Show 2025, With & Without Cable

Nate Cunningham | Mar 16, 2025

Seton Hall won the 2024 NIT men's tournament championship. / Anne-Marie Caruso/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

While the NCAA tournament is the undisputed king of spring basketball, with high-profile upsets, incredible drama and an expectation that the unexpected will be delivered, there’s more great basketball happening in March, even if it doesn’t get the primetime slots on national television. 

We’re talking about the NIT—the National Invitation Tournament. 

For the men’s basketball teams that just missed the cut for March Madness, they (usually) go to the NIT. Which means those teams, especially those who were on the NCAA tournament bubble, are extremely motivated and ready to prove the selection committee wrong. 

What Is the NIT?

The NIT is an official NCAA tournament, which consists of 32 invited teams. Higher seeded teams play in their home arena, until there are four teams remaining. Those games are played inside Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. 

Last year, the NCAA changed the selection process for the NIT. Now, 16 teams (half the bracket) are considered “exempt.” 

Those exempt teams include the top two teams that were not selected to the NCAA tournament from the ACC, Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC. Each of those teams will receive an automatic bid. 

Teams are seeded and the bracket is created on Sunday, March 16. On Tuesday, March 18, first round games begin. 

NIT Selection Show & Broadcast Details

The NIT Selection Show will air at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 on Sunday, March 16. The ESPN app will also air the show. 

How to Watch the NIT on Cable TV

The good news is that even the most basic of cable packages include ESPN2. ESPN2 is Channel  209 on DirecTV and 143 on Dish. Basic cable (non-satellite) channel numbers vary based on your geographic location. 

Once the NIT games begin, the first round matchups will air on ESPN2 and ESPNU. Typically, ESPNU is not included in basic cable packages andwould require some sort of upgrade to a mid-level package.

Second round games are again on ESPN2 and ESPNU. Quarterfinals matchups are strictly on ESPN2. 

ESPN will broadcast the semifinals (April 1) and final (April 3) of the NIT. 

How to Stream the NIT Without Cable

DirecTV Stream, Hulu + Live TV, fuboTV and YouTube TV all carry ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. Sling TV requires the Sports Extra package to get ESPNU. 

Service	Includes ESPN, ESPN and ESPNU?	Free Trial?	Price (Base Plan)
DirecTV Stream	Yes	Yes	$86.99
Hulu + Live TV	Yes	Yes	$95.99
fuboTV	Yes	Yes	$84.99
YouTubeTV	Yes	Yes	$82.99
Sling TV	Yes (ESPNU requires Sports Extra)	No	$60.99

NIT Winners Since 2000

School	Year
Wake Forest	2000
Tulsa	2001
Memphis	2002
Vacated	2003
Michigan	2004
South Carolina	2005
South Carolina	2006
West Virginia	2007
Ohio State	2008
Penn State	2009
Dayton	2010
Wichita State	2011
Stanford	2012
Baylor	2013
Minnesota	2014
Stanford	2015
George Washington	2016
TCU	2017
Penn State	2018
Texas	2019
No Tournament	2020
Memphis	2021
Xavier	2022
North Texas	2023
Seton Hall	2024