Five Atlantic 10 teams — Dayton, Davidson, George Mason, George Washington and Saint Joseph’s — made the NIT cut Sunday night.
Duquesne, another one, didn’t.
Despite the A-10’s push for the Dukes’ inclusion in college basketball’s second-fiddle tournament, the National Invitation Tournament selection committee didn’t see it that way.
With a growing number of teams outside the NCAA Tournament field declining invitations to the NIT, Duquesne’s 18-15 record apparently still wasn’t enough to earn the Dukes a spot.
Yet, George Washington, with an identical 18-15 mark, slid in, despite Duquesne defeating the Revolutionaries, 88-86, in their only meeting Feb. 7 at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
Dayton (23-11), which lost out on an NCAA Tournament bid after losing to VCU, 70-62, in Sunday’s A-10 Tournament championship game at PPG Paints Arena, stacked more than enough victories to be considered.
George Mason (23-9), Saint Joseph’s (22-11) and Davidson (20-13) also reached 20 wins.
NIT first-round schedule
Auburn Region
Tuesday
Liberty at No. 3 George Mason, 6 p.m.
South Alabama at No. 1 Auburn, 10 p.m.
St. Thomas, Minn. at No. 4 Seattle, 10 p.m.
Wednesday
Murray State at No. 2 Nevada, 10 p.m.
Albuquerque Region
Wednesday
George Washington at No. 4 Utah Valley, 8 p.m.
Sam Houston at No. 1 New Mexico, 9 p.m.
Illinois Chicago at No. 2 California, 11 p.m.
Saint Joseph’s at No. 3 Colorado State, 11 p.m.
Winston-Salem Region
Tuesday
UNCW at No. 3 Yale, 7 p.m.
Wednesday
Navy at No. 1 Wake Forest, 7 p.m.
Kent State at No. 4 Illinois State, 8 p.m.
Bradley at No. 2 Dayton, 9 p.m.
Tulsa Region
Tuesday
Wyoming vs. No. 3 Wichita State, 7 p.m.
Davidson at No. 2 Oklahoma State, 8 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin at No. 1 Tulsa, 9 p.m.
UNLV at No. 4 UC Irvine, 11 p.m.
