Five Atlantic 10 team have earned bids to the 2026 NIT. Atlantic 10 championship runner up Dayton, Saint Joseph’s, George Mason, Davidson and George Washington will all continue their seasons this week.
George Mason will host, while the other four begin their NIT quest on the road. Both Dayton (First Four) and Saint Joseph’s (First and Second Round) are hosting NCAA Tournament games and cannot host NIT games.

More to follow....

GEORGE MASON
The George Mason University men's basketball team has been selected for the 2026 National Invitation Tournament and will open the event in Fairfax with a Tuesday night contest against Liberty.
 
The 6 p.m. game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
 
All tickets for Tuesday's game are $25 and will go on sale Monday (March 16). George Mason students will receive free admission to the game.
 
It's George Mason's sixth NIT appearance in program history and the second in the past two seasons. The Patriots have now made back-to-back postseason appearances (NCAA or NIT) for the first time since 2007-09.
 
Liberty won the 2026 Conference USA regular season title while tallying a 25-7 overall record and 17-3 mark in league play.
 
The Flames and Patriots have met nine previous times in their history, with George Mason holding a 6-3 advantage in the series. The two teams last met on Dec. 10, 2011, in Fairfax. George Mason won that game, 84-54.
 
Last season, the Green & Gold advanced to the NIT Second Round after earning their first win in the event since 2004.

GEORGE WASHINGTON
GW men's basketball will take part in the 2026 National Invitation Tournament beginning play on Wednesday evening when it takes on No. 4 seed Utah Valley. Tip is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET with coverage on ESPN+.

The Revolutionaries are back in the NIT for the first time since winning the 2016 Championship over Valparaiso and are making back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time since making four in a row from 2014-17.

GW's seventh trip to the NIT in program history will start in Orem, Utah against the Wolverines out of the Western Athletic Conference. UVU (25-8, 14-4 WAC) won the WAC regular season title and lost in the championship game, 63-61, to Cal Baptist on Saturday night. Should GW win, it would advance to take on the winner of No. 1 seed New Mexico and Sam Houston State.

The Buff & Blue will enter play at 18-15 and on the backs of ranking fourth in the Atlantic 10 in multiple key performance metrics, including the NET, KenPom, BPI and Bart Torvik, four of the seven rating systems used on the NCAA's team sheet. GW challenged itself all year with 11 Quad 1 + 2 games and scheduled non-conference matchups with eventual conference champions Florida (SEC), South Florida (American), McNeese (Southland) and UMBC (America East).

SAINT JOSEPH’S
The Saint Joseph's men's basketball team will see its 2025-26 season continue as the Hawks have accepted a bid to the 2026 National Invitation Tournament.
 
St. Joe's faces Colorado State on Wednesday, March 18. Tipoff time from Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colo. is scheduled for 11:00 p.m. EDT with the game to air on ESPNU.
 
Colorado State went 21-12 this season with an 11-9 record in the Mountain West Conference and advanced to the quarterfinals of the MW Championship.
 
2026 marks the third consecutive season SJU is competing in the NIT. Saint Joseph's has won 20 games for a third consecutive season, something only done twice before in program history.
 
Led by Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year Steve Donahue, A-10 Co-Defensive Player of the Year, Justice Ajogbor and All-Conference honorees Derek Simpson, Jaiden Glover-Toscano and Austin Williford, the Hawks finished 13-5 in the A-10 and advanced to the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship.


Atlantic 10 athletic departments contributed to this story.