The National Invitation Tournament had new competition in 2025 as the undercard during college basketball’s postseason, but the event’s latest pivot seems to have accomplished what it set out to do.
The introduction of the College Basketball Crown this year fundamentally changed the composition of the NIT field once again, with just four of the 32 participating teams this year coming from power conferences (Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, SMU and Stanford). But the de facto mid-major championship event that this led to produced a bunch of interesting matchups while March Madness played out mostly according to script ahead of this weekend’s Final Four.
This version of the NIT culminated with Thursday’s championship game between the UC Irvine Anteaters and Chattanooga Mocs at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
UC Irvine (32-7) barely missed the NCAA Tournament after losing to UC San Diego in the Big West conference championship game and served as one of four No. 1 seeds in the NIT bracket. The Anteaters had consecutive narrow wins to reach the championship game, beating UAB in overtime at home in the quarterfinals before a 69-67 win over North Texas in the NIT semifinals on Tuesday at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Chattanooga (29-9) was an unseeded team in the bracket after getting upset in the Southern Conference tournament, but it reeled off an impressive run led by guards Trey Bonham and Honor Huff. The Mocs won in triple overtime at No. 4 seed Middle Tennessee State in the opening round, got a 15-point win at No. 1 seed Dayton in their next game, then won at Bradley, 67-65, in the NIT quarterfinals. They reached the championship game with an 80-73 win over Loyola Chicago in the semifinals.
Check out the highlights from the NIT title game:
Final: Chattanooga 85, UC Irvine 84 (OT)
What a game!
Chattanooga outlasted UC Irvine in a thrilling NIT final. The Anteaters had a chance to win at the overtime buzzer, but Jurian Dixon couldn’t get the layup to go.
Four Chattanooga starters scored in double figures — Collin Mulholland and Trey Bonham each had 19 points, while Garrison Keeslar and Honor Huff each had 14. All five UC Irvine starters scored at least 13 points, led by Devin Tillis’ 19.
Chattanooga takes halftime lead with half-court buzzer-beater
What a way to end the half!
Chattanooga’s Trey Bonham gave the Mocs a 38-37 lead at halftime by hitting a half-court buzzer-beater. The fans at Hinkle Fieldhouse were fired up, including Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens, who was in the crowd to cheer on his alma mater.
Bonham leads all Mocs scorers with 11 points. Devin Tillis has a game-high 13 for UC Irvine.
NIT championship game 2025: TV channel, live streaming for UC Irvine vs. Chattanooga
The 2025 NIT championship game featuring No. 1 seed UC Irvine and unseeded Chattanooga is scheduled to be broadcast nationally on ESPN on Thursday beginning at 9 p.m. ET. The game can also be live streamed on ESPN+ or through Fubo, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.
Date: Thursday, April 3
Time: 9 p.m. ET
Location: Hinkle Fieldhouse (Indianapolis)
TV: ESPN
Streaming: ESPN+, Fubo
Watch the NIT championship game with Fubo
NIT bracket 2025
Here’s a look at the full NIT bracket entering the finals of the 2025 tournament:
First round
(1) SMU 73, Northern Iowa 63
(4) Oklahoma State 89, Wichita State 79
(3) Arkansas State 103, Saint Louis 78
(2) North Texas 75, Furman 64
(1) UC Irvine 82, Northern Colorado 72
Jacksonville State 81, (4) Georgia Tech 64
UAB 69, (3) Saint Joseph’s 65
(2) Santa Clara 101, UC Riverside 62
(1) Dayton 86, Florida Atlantic 79
Chattanooga 109, (4) Middle Tennessee 103 (3OT)
(3) Bradley 71, North Alabama 62
(2) George Mason 86, Samford 69
(1) San Francisco 79, Utah Valley 70
Loyola Chicago 73, (4) San Jose State 70
Kent State 75, (3) St. Bonaventure 56
(2) Stanford 87, Cal State-Northridge 70
Second round
Oklahoma State 88, (1) SMU 79
(2) North Texas 65, Arkansas State 63
(1) UC Irvine 66, Jacksonville State 61
UAB 88, (2) Santa Clara 84
Chattanooga 87, (1) Dayton 72
Bradley 75, (2) George Mason 67
Loyola Chicago 77, (1) San Francisco 76
Kent State 77, (2) Stanford 75
Quarterfinals
(2) North Texas 61, Oklahoma State 59
(1) UC Irvine 81, UAB 77 (OT)
Chattanooga 67, Bradley 65
Loyola Chicago 72, Kent State 61
Semifinals
UC Irvine 69, North Texas 67
Chattanooga 80, Loyola-Chicago 73
Championship game
(1) UC Irvine vs. Chattanooga, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+