March 11, 2018
The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team, confirmed by the 2018 NCAA Championship selection committee as the the final team eliminated from consideration for the NCAA tournament, has been designated as one of four number-one seeds in the 2018 National Invitation Tournament.
The Irish (20-14) will host No. 8 seed Hampton (19-15) on Tuesday, March 13, at 9 p.m. ET in Purcell Pavilion. General admission tickets are on sale now for $10 from the Notre Dame Ticket Office.
Hampton earned an automatic bid to the NIT by virtue of their regular-season title in the Mideastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). They lost in the MEAC title game to North Carolina Central, there by securing an NIT bid as a conference team who won their regular-season title but did not advance to th NCAA Championship. The Irish and Pirates will be meeting for the first time in men’s basketball on Tuesday night (Notre Dame is 5-0 all-time against teams from the MEAC).
Should Notre Dame continue to earn victories in the tournament, they would host the second round (March 16 -19) and quarterfinals (March 20 & 21) at Purcell Pavilion before heading to Madison Square Garden for the semifinals (March 27) and final (March 29). Exact dates of the second round and quarterfinal games will be announced at a later date.
Notre Dame is making its 12th appearance in the NIT and first since the end of the 2009 season. The Irish boast a 26-10 lifetime record in the event (what was the original precursor to the NCAA Championship tournament) and advanced to the title game in 1973, 1984, 1992 and 2000.
Notre Dame is 14-3 all-time at Purcell Pavilion in the NIT.
The winner of the Notre Dame – Hampton game will face the winner of No. 4 Penn State vs. No. 5 Temple in the second round (date TBA).