2003 National Invitation Tournament

The 2003 National Invitation Tournament was the 2003 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. This was the last NIT to include a third-place game until 2021.

2003 National Invitation Tournament

Season	2002–03
Teams	40
Finals site	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Champions	St. John's Red Storm (vacated) (6th title)
Runner-up	Georgetown Hoyas (2nd title game)
Semifinalists	Texas Tech Red Raiders (1st semifinal) Minnesota Golden Gophers (4th semifinal)
Winning coach	Mike Jarvis (1st title)
MVP	Marcus Hatten (Vacated) (St. John's)
National Invitation Tournaments «2002 2004»

During the following season, St. John's center Abe Keita revealed that a member of the team's staff had paid him nearly $300 a month for the past four seasons. As a result, St. John's took various actions, including vacating 43 wins in which Keita participated, among which were the team's victories and eventual championship in the 2003 NIT. St. John's became the third team in the history of the NIT to be forced to vacate its standing in the tournament. Marcus Hatten's tournament Most Valuable Player award also was vacated.

Selected teams

Below is a list of the 40 teams selected for the tournament.^[1]

School	Conference	Record	Appearance	Last bid
Boston College	Big East	18–11	16th	1993
Boston University	America East	20–10	3rd	1986
Brown	Ivy	17–11	1st	Never
College of Charleston	Southern	24–7	3rd	1996
DePaul	C-USA	16–12	14th	1999
Drexel	Colonial	19–11	2nd	1997
Eastern Washington	Big Sky	18–12	1st	Never
Fairfield	MAAC	19–11	5th	1996
Georgetown	Big East	15–14	9th	2000
Georgia Tech	ACC	14–14	7th	1999
Hawaii	WAC	18–11	7th	1998
Iowa	Big Ten	15–13	4th	2002
Iowa State	Big 12	16–13	2nd	1984
Kent State	MAC	22–8	5th	2000
Louisiana-Lafayette	Sun Belt	20–9	5th	2002
Minnesota	Big Ten	16–12	10th	2002
Nevada	WAC	18–13	3rd	1997
North Carolina	ACC	17–15	5th	1974
Ohio State	Big Ten	17–14	7th	1993
Providence	Big East	16–13	16th	1999
Rhode Island	Atlantic 10	19–10	10th	1996
Richmond	Atlantic 10	16–12	7th	2002
St. John's	Big East	16–13	27th	1995
Saint Louis	C-USA	16–13	17th	1996
San Diego State	Mountain West	16–13	2nd	1982
Seton Hall	Big East	17–12	15th	2001
Siena	MAAC	19–10	5th	2000
Temple	Atlantic 10	16–15	13th	2002
Tennessee	SEC	17–11	10th	1996
Texas Tech	Big 12	18–12	3rd	1995
UAB	C-USA	17–11	8th	1998
UC Santa Barbara	Big West	18–13	4th	1993
UIC	Horizon	21–8	1st	Never
UNLV	Mountain West	21–10	7th	2002
Valparaiso	Mid-Continent	20–10	1st	Never
Villanova	Big East	15–15	15th	2002
Virginia	ACC	15–15	10th	2002
Western Michigan	MAC	19–10	2nd	1992
Wichita State	Missouri Valley	18–11	8th	1989
Wyoming	Mountain West	20–10	8th	2001

Bracket

Below are the four first round brackets, along with the four-team championship bracket.^[1]

	Opening Round					First Round					Second Round					Quarterfinals
							Texas Tech	66
							Nevada	54
												Texas Tech	57
												San Diego State	48
							San Diego State	67
							UC Santa Barbara	62OT
																	Texas Tech	80
																	Georgia Tech	72
							Georgia Tech	72
							Ohio State	58
												Georgia Tech	79
												Iowa	78
		Iowa	62
		Valparaiso	60
							Iowa	54
							Iowa State	53
		Iowa State	76
		Wichita State	65

	Opening Round					First Round					Second Round					Quarterfinals
		Siena	74
		Villanova	59
							Siena	68
							Western Michigan	62
		Western Michigan	63
		UIC	62
												Siena	71
												UAB	80
							UAB	82
							Louisiana-Lafayette	80
																	UAB	71
																	St. John's	79
							St. John's	73
							Boston University	57
												St. John's	73
												Virginia	63
							Virginia	89
							Brown	73

	Opening Round					First Round					Second Round					Quarterfinals
							North Carolina	83
							DePaul	72
												North Carolina	90
												Wyoming	74
							Wyoming	78
							Eastern Washington	71
																	North Carolina	74
																	Georgetown	79
							Georgetown	70
							Tennessee	60
												Georgetown	67
												Providence	58
		Providence	67
		Richmond	49
							Providence	69
							College of Charleston	64
		College of Charleston	72
		Kent State	66

	Opening Round					First Round					Second Round					Quarterfinals
		Temple	68
		Drexel	59
							Temple	75
							Boston College	62
		Boston College	90
		Fairfield	78
												Temple	61
												Rhode Island	53
							Rhode Island	61
							Seton Hall	60
																	Temple	58
																	Minnesota	63OT
							Minnesota	62
							Saint Louis	52
												Minnesota	84
												Hawaii	70
							Hawaii	85
							UNLV	68

Semifinals & finals

	Semifinals					Finals
		Georgetown	88
		Minnesota	74
							Georgetown	67
							St. John's	70
		Texas Tech	63
		St. John's	64

	Third place game
		Minnesota	61
		Texas Tech	71

NOTE: St. John's later vacated its tournament wins and title championship due to an ineligible player.

See also

• 2003 Women's National Invitation Tournament
• 2003 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 2003 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 2003 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
• 2003 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 2003 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 2003 NAIA Division II men's basketball tournament