NIT TO TAKE CHAMPS: Regular season men's basketball champions in the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference and the Southwestern Athletic Conference will now be guaranteed postseason play after the National Invitational Tournament changed its rules to give automatic bids to regular season winners in the 31 NCAA Div. I conferences. The NCAA Tournament currently gives automatic bids to the MEAC and SWAC tournament winners and no team from the MEAC or SWAC has received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. That means that teams that do the work to win regular season titles but are upset in conference tournaments are pretty much left with nowhere to go. That changes now. "The committee was unanimous in its view on this matter," said NIT selection committee chair, C.M. Newton. "It formalizes what postseason basketball should be _ a reward for success throughout the regular season." Coppin State of the MEAC was the last black college team to participate in the NIT when it received a bid after winning the regular season MEAC title in 1995. The Eagles were upset by North Carolina A&T in the MEAC tournament finals. The Eagles defeated St. Joseph's in the first round of the NIT before falling to South Florida in the second round. This year's Postseason NIT will tip off on March 14 of this year with opening-round play on campus sites. There will be a 40-team field seeded by overall quality. Second-round action commences on March 17 and the quarterfinals begin on March 21. Continuing with a tradition now in its 69th year, the championship round will take place in New York's Madison Square Garden with the semifinal doubleheader on March 28 and the championship game on March 30. The NIT selection committee, all former Division I men's basketball head coaches, is comprised of Hall of Famers C. M. Newton, the chairman, and Dean Smith, along with Don  DeVoe, Reggie Minton, Jack Powers, and Carroll Williams. "We have assembled a committee that brings with them boundless amounts of expertise and integrity and I look forward to working with them," Newton said. The NIT Season Tip-Off and the National Invitation Tournament are overseen by the NIT, LLC, which was acquired by the NCAA last year.

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