Asked in his postgame press conference what he thinks about Dayton’s NIT chances, Dayton coach Anthony Grant said, “That’s completely out of our hands. I would love for us to get an opportunity to continue to play, so hopefully with that we’ve been able to accomplish over the course of the year, that opportunity will be available to this group. There’s a lot of good teams out there. We’ll see what the weekend brings, but we’d love nothing more than to be able to continue to play.”
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Thirty two teams make the NIT field. First-round games will be played on campus sites Tuesday and Wednesday, meaning Dayton likely will have to play on the road because it’s hosting the First Four at UD Arena on those dates.
One recent NIT projection had Dayton as a No. 4 seed. One Dayton-area team has already earned a NIT bid. Wright State will play in the tournament for the first time after winning the Horizon League regular-season championship.
Dayton has played in the NIT 24 times and won three NIT championships. It last appeared in the tournament in 2012, losing at Iowa in the first round.
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