Gonzaga vs. North Carolina Could Highlight NIT Season Tip-Off: As part of the NIT’s revolution, the former Preseason NIT — it’s now the NIT Season Tip-Off — will change its format next season. Four relatively neutral sites will host a doubleheader, and the winner of the second-round game will go to Madison Square Garden for the exempt tournament’s finals. But unlike the past, the first-round losers will meet in a consolation game. And the neutral sites depart from on-campus games that heavily favored the most powerful team in a pod.
The upcoming version of the NIT Season Tip-Off will take place in Charlotte, Indianapolis, Nashville and Spokane, Wash. The expected winners in each pod, respectively, will be North Carolina, Indiana, Tennessee and Gonzaga. Some of the other noteworthy names in the tournament are Belmont, Iona, UNC – Wilmington and Winthrop — which all made the NCAA Tournament this past season — and upset-minded pod busters like Notre Dame, Fordham, Baylor and Rice. [5/15/06]
