1970 National Invitation Tournament


The 1970 National Invitation Tournament was the 1970 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. It was unique in that coach Al McGuire of 8th ranked Marquette University, unhappy with his team's NCAA tournament placement in the Midwest rather than the closer Mideast regional, turned down that bid and elected to play in the NIT instead. His Marquette Warriors went on to claim the championship, and as a result the NCAA now forbids its members from playing in other postseason tournaments if offered an NCAA bid.
This tournament represented the final college games for LSU great Pete Maravich, the Men's NCAA all-time leading scorer. Maravich finished his three-year career with 3,667 points, 44.2 per game, records which stand through the 2024-25 season, despite the reinstitution of freshman eligibility and the introduction of the shot clock and 3-point shot. It was LSU's only postseason appearance between 1954 and 1979. The Tigers were coached by Pete's father, Press Maravich.

Selected teams

Sixteen teams were selected for the 1970 NIT.
TeamConferenceOverall recordAppearanceLast bid
Independent19–57th1969
Missouri Valley21–54th1957
DukeACC17–83rd1968
DuquesneIndependent17–613th1968
GeorgetownIndependent18–62nd1953
Independent16–91stNever
Missouri Valley18–88th1969
LSUSEC20–81stNever
Independent17–710th1966
[1969–70 1969–70 Marquette Warriors men's basketball team|Marquette Warriors men's basketball team|Marquette]Independent22–34th1967
MAC16–71stNever
North CarolinaACC18–81stNever
Big Eight18–81stNever
St. John'sIndependent18–719th1966
Yankee18–61stNever
WAC17–96th1957