NIT Tournament: Season continues for Stanford, San Jose State, USF, Santa Clara men
Saint Mary’s may be the Bay Area’s only men’s basketball team in the NCAA Tournament, but four other local schools will also be participating in the postseason this coming week.
Hours after the NCAA Tournament was revealed Sunday, Stanford, San Jose State, San Francisco and Santa Clara all accepted invites to the men’s National Invitational Tournament.
Stanford (20-13) will be taking part in the postseason for the first time since 2018 when it hosts Cal State Northridge (22-10) on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Maples Pavilion. Santa Clara (20-12) plays host on Tuesday as well when it faces UC Riverside (21-12) at 8 p.m.
Both USF and San Jose State will play at home Wednesday night in the 32-team NIT. The Dons (24-9) will play Utah Valley (25-8) at War Memorial at 8 p.m. Meanwhile, the Spartans (15-19) are set to make their first NIT appearance since 1981 when they face Loyola Chicago (22-11) at 8 p.m.
Despite their sub-.500 record, the Spartans are enjoying a bit of a renaissance under coach Tim Miles. Their 15 victories gives them their most wins over a three-year span (45) since the school won 46 games from 1985-88.
San Jose State may have been one of the beneficiaries of more postseason spots being available this year. There were a number of teams that declined to play in the NIT in order to participate in the new, Fox-sponsored College Basketball Crown. That 16-team tournament will be held in Las Vegas from March 31-April 6. West Virginia and Ohio State are among the schools expected to participate in the inaugural tournament.
Stanford will have history on its side when it takes the floor Tuesday night. The Cardinal is 11-2 at home all-time in the NIT, including nine straight wins from 2006-18. Plus, it has advanced to the second round, or further, in each of its last five appearances.
The matchup with Northridge will be the eighth in program history, with Stanford holding a 7-0 all-time record in a series that began in 1976. With a win Tuesday, Stanford will host St. Bonaventure or Kent State in the second round.
The Cardinal finished seventh in the Atlanta Coast Conference in Kyle Smith’s first year as head coach. He led Stanford to a 20-win season for the first time since 2020 and the 25th time in program history. The Cardinal boasts one of the top players in the NIT in 7-foot-1 senior Maxime Raynaud, who averaged a double-double this season with 20.1 points and 10.6 rebounds per game.
Santa Clara is making its third NIT appearance in the last four seasons under coach Herb Sendek, whose Broncos are 10.5-point favorites against Riverside. The Broncos will literally be shooting for a record Tuesday against Riverside as Santa Clara is three 3-pointers shy of breaking the West Coast Conference record for 3-pointers set in a season. USF set the record with 349 made 3’s in the 2022-23 season.
This year’s USF squad makes its third postseason appearance in four seasons after advancing to the WCC tournament semifinals for the fourth straight year. The Dons finished unbeaten (16-0) on the Hilltop for the first time in 44 years — back when they won the fifth of six straight regular-season conference titles in 1980-81.