NIT bracket 2024: Tournament schedule, dates, times as Wake Forest, Villanova highlight No. 1 seeds

 For the 2024 NIT, Seton Hall, Wake Forest, Indiana State, and Villanova earned the top seeds. The 32-team field was revealed on Sunday, and college locations will host competitions starting on Tuesday. The semifinals and championship game of the tournament will take place in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 2 and April 4, respectively.

The NIT will debut a new look in this year. The first twelve NIT automatic bids and the privilege to host first-round games will go to the top two teams from the NET rankings from each of the major six conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC), provided they did not make it to the NCAA Tournament.

Following their elimination from the NCAA Tournament, several high-major institutions, including Oklahoma, Pitt, St. John's, and Indiana, turned down invitations to the NIT. Preseason No. 1 North Carolina last year turned down an offer.

Madison Square Garden has always hosted the semifinals and final of the tournament, but starting in 2023, the NCAA will start "accepting bids from numerous cities" to host it.

2024 NIT key dates 

First Round: March 19-20
Second round: March 23-24
Quarterfinals: March 26-27
Semifinals: April 2 (Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis)
Championship: April 4 (Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis)

All times Eastern 

2024 NIT First Round schedule 

The higher-seeded team's home venue will host games in the first three rounds.

Top Left Bracket

No. 1 Seton Hall vs. Saint Joseph's | Wednesday, 7 p.m. 
No. 2 Princeton vs. UNLV | Wednesday, 8 p.m. 
No. 3 Providence vs. Boston College | Tuesday, 7 p.m. 
No. 4 LSU vs. North Texas | Tuesday, 7 p.m. 

Bottom Left Bracket

No. 1 Wake Forest vs. Appalachian State | Wednesday, 8 p.m. 
No. 2 Ohio State vs. Cornell | Tuesday, 7 p.m. 
No. 3 Virginia Tech vs. Richmond | Tuesday, 9 p.m. 
No. 4 Georgia vs. Xavier | Tuesday, 7 p.m. 

Upper Right Bracket

No. 1 Indiana State vs. SMU | Wednesday, 7 p.m. 
No. 2 Cincinnati vs. San Francisco | Wednesday, 9 p.m. 
No. 3 Bradley vs. Loyola Chicago | Wednesday, 7 p.m. 
No. 4 Butler vs. Minnesota | Tuesday, 9 p.m. 

Lower Right Bracket

No. 1 Villanova vs. VCU | Wednesday, 9 p.m. 
No. 2 Utah vs. UC Irvine | Tuesday, 11 p.m. 
No. 3 Iowa vs. Kansas State | Tuesday, 9 p.m. 
No. 4 UCF vs. USF| Wednesday, 9 p.m. 

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BackBack Conspiracy theories around Royal family abuzz on social media as BBC asked to be on standby - 'Is King Charles dead?'

Since his earlier prostate operation at The London Clinic, King Charles' health has been in the spotlight. Doctors found "a separate issue of concern" during the medical process. Charles' cancer diagnosis was later verified by Buckingham Palace.

According to the Palace, which maintains that Charles does not have prostate cancer, the reason for Charles's prostate operation was not malignancy. The advise of his doctors has forced the monarch to give up on some public duties. He does, however, have weekly meetings with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Prior to the announcement of his old friend Ian Farquhar's death at the king's Highgrove estate, on March 15, King Charles was spotted departing Windsor Castle. When the monarch was taken to an unidentified place, he appeared solemn.

He had a meeting at Buckingham Palace on March 14 with the Jamaican High Commissioner and his spouse. Prior to that, he had a video conversation with Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada. Additionally, he met with the ambassadors of Mauritania and Algeria.

On social media, there are conjectures and conspiracy theories claiming that King Charles might have died.

One user on X (previously Twitter) stated that some government buildings in the United Kingdom had their flag flown at half mast and mentioned that the BBC had gone "all black again."

The user asserted that either Kate Middleton passed away or King Charles died and abdicated. The user went on, "The streets are saying King Charles is dead?"

But the X user is not alone in making this assertion.

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"It's rumored that King Charles passed away on Saint Patrick's Day?" wrote a different user.

Several others on social media noted that it was Saint Patrick's Day (March 17), an Irish holiday, seemingly alluding to Princess Diana's Irish ancestry.

According to reports, the Royal Family informed the BBC Events team to prepare for a significant update "at any time." It has been suggested thus far that it has anything to do with Kate.

The sisters Lauren and Chen, who host the podcast "Popapologists," posted a video on TikTok discussing Princess Kate's condition. They discussed her decision to skip the June Trooping the Colour ceremony.

Since undergoing stomach surgery in January, Princess Kate, 42, has not made any public appearances. She apologized this week for "manipulating" a picture of her and her three children that the palace had released. People's curiosity regarding her whereabouts and health increased after her apology.

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Chelsea: Manager Mauricio Pochettino claims that several younger players are "struggling with the pressure."

 According to manager Mauricio Pochettino, some of Chelsea's younger players are "struggling a little bit to deal with the pressure" of representing the team.

When the Argentine took over last summer, the Blues made a big play for young players.

Cole Palmer, 21, is an obvious standout as the top goalscorer since leaving Manchester City.

Pochettino said: "Not all the players have the same process to settle in at the club [as Palmer] or to perform."

With Monday's 3-2 victory over Newcastle, Palmer scored his 11th Premier League goal of the year, moving Chelsea up to 11th in the standings after they ended 12th the previous season.

The Blues also fell short against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final on penalties; but, they are still in the FA Cup and will play Championship leaders Leicester on Sunday in the quarterfinals.

 

Pochettino added: "One thing we cannot change is to give time to the players to get experience and be more mature.

"Yes, we are in a process that the main group, the main young players, they struggle a little bit to deal with the pressure to play for Chelsea.

"That is the thing we are, of course, aware of and we are focusing on trying to help them in all the areas.

"When you have this young squad, it's not only to help them in training, in the maybe two hours of that. We have spent a lot of time talking with the people that work around these guys, who are important too."

Another summer transfer to Chelsea was Nicolas Jackson, a 22-year-old striker from Senegal who opened the score against Newcastle with his 12th goal overall.

Didier Drogba scored 16 goals in his debut season at Stamford Bridge (2004–05), but he left the team as a Chelsea icon after spending two periods totaling 164 goals, the last one finishing in 2015.

"You all are now seeing how [Jackson] is improving," said Pochettino. "The most difficult thing was to support him when it was tough. I told you I really believe in him.

"I believe he is going to be very successful here. He has the quality and the capacity. Now he is doing much better but still needs to improve a lot.

"The numbers are similar to Drogba in his first season. That maybe gives the fans more belief in him and [they will] be a little more patient with him, but always it depends on the circumstances.

"Now I hope people can start to understand he has the condition to be very good."

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