Dayton basketball: Flyers headed to NIT for 29th time

Dayton (23-11) will make its fifth appearance in the NIT in coach Anthony Grant’s nine seasons. It is 2-4 in the NIT in his tenure.

Here’s what to know about the game:

Opponent: Bradley finished 21-12 overall and 13-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference in the regular season.

Bradley last played in the NCAA tournament in 2019. Its coach Brian Wardle is 207-159 in 11 seasons.

Series history: Dayton and Bradley have played six times but not since 1990. Bradley leads the series 9-2.

Dayton beat Bradley in on Dec. 30, 1989, at UD Arena and on Dec. 22, 1990, at Carver Arena.

Bradley won the first seven meetings. One of those took place in the quarterfinals of the 1960 NIT at Madison Square Garden.

Tournament path: Dayton or Bradley will play North Carolina Wilmington (26-6) or Yale (24-6) in the second round. Those teams play in New Haven, Conn., on Tuesday.

The other games in Dayton’s corner of the 32-team bracket are: Wake Forest at Navy; and Kent State at Illinois State.

A-10 representatives: Four other A-10 teams will participate in the NIT.

• George Washington will play at Utah Valley on Wednesday.

• Davidson will play at Oklahoma State on Tuesday.

• Saint Joseph’s will play at Colorado State on Wednesday.

• Liberty will play at George Mason on Tuesday.

Road games: Dayton has not played a home game in the first round of the NIT since 2010 when it beat Illinois State 63-42 at UD Arena. That game came a day after a NCAA play-in game at UD Arena.

With the expansion of the NCAA tournament from 64 to 68 teams and the berth of the First Four in 2011, the NCAA tournament has started in Dayton every season, excluding the pandemic years (2020-21), with games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Those are the same days the NIT first-round games take place.

In 2011, 2012, 2019 and 2021, Dayton lost first-round NIT games on the road. It broke that streak in 2022, winning 74-55 at Toledo in the first round before losing 70-68 in overtime at Vanderbilt in the second round.

After declining an NIT bid in 2023 and making the NCAA tournament in 2024, Dayton returned to the NIT in 2025 and beat Florida Atlantic 86-79 in the first round in Boca Raton, Fla., before losing 87-72 at Chattanooga in the second round.

History lesson: Dayton will make its 29th appearance in the NIT. Only Saint John’s, with 30 appearances, has played more often in a tournament that was founded in 1938.

Dayton has a 42-26 record in the NIT and won the championship in 1962, 1968 and 2010. It finished as runner-up in 1951, 1952, 1955, 1956 and 1958.