2026 Women's National Invitation Tournament
American collegiate basketball tournament
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The 2026 Women's National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 48 NCAA Division I women's college basketball teams that were not selected for the field of the 2026 NCAA tournament or the 2026 WBIT. The tournament committee announced the 48-team field on March 16, following the selection of the fields for the NCAA tournament and WBIT.
Season2025–26
Teams48
Finals siteCam Henderson Center,
Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington, West Virginia
ChampionsMarshall (1st title)
| Season | 2025–26 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 48 | ||||
| Finals site | Cam Henderson Center, Huntington, West Virginia | ||||
| Champions | Marshall (1st title) | ||||
| Runner-up | Illinois State (1st title game) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| Winning coach | Juli Fulks (1st title) | ||||
| MVP | Timaya Lewis-Eutsey (Marshall) | ||||
| |||||
Participants
Automatic qualifiers
The 2026 field featured 9 automatic qualifiers and 39 at-large bids. Automatic qualifiers for the WNIT were teams that were the 2–seeds in their conference tournament that did not receive a bid into the NCAA tournament or the WBIT.[1]
For the first time since their transition to Division I in the 2024–25 academic year, Mercyhurst participated in the NCAA postseason.
| School | Conference | Record | Appearance | Last bid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abilene Christian | WAC | 23–10 | 3rd | 2017 |
| Alcorn State | SWAC | 17–13 | 1st | Never |
| FIU | CUSA | 20–11 | 9th | 2024 |
| Lamar | Southland | 20–10 | 5th | 2019 |
| Maryland Eastern Shore | MEAC | 19–14 | 1st | Never |
| Mercyhurst | NEC | 15–16 | 1st | Never |
| Montana State | Big Sky | 25–7 | 2nd | 2016 |
| Radford | Big South | 22–12 | 5th | 2017 |
| Youngstown State | Horizon | 24–9 | 5th | 2022 |
At-large bids
| School | Conference | Record | Appearance | Last bid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Force | Mountain West | 16–18 | 3rd | 2025 |
| Arkansas State | Sun Belt | 24–9 | 9th | 2016 |
| Army | Patriot | 24–7 | 4th | 2025 |
| Austin Peay | ASUN | 19–13 | 1st | Never |
| Binghamton | America East | 19–12 | 1st | Never |
| Bradley | Missouri Valley | 20–12 | 1st | Never |
| Cleveland State | Horizon | 24–9 | 3rd | 2025 |
| Drexel | CAA | 21–10 | 12th | 2023 |
| Florida Gulf Coast | ASUN | 16–15 | 7th | 2016 |
| George Washington | Atlantic 10 | 15–17 | 6th | 2017 |
| Illinois State | Missouri Valley | 20–13 | 17th | 2025 |
| La Salle | Atlantic 10 | 18–13 | 1st | Never |
| Lehigh | Patriot | 17–14 | 2nd | 2011 |
| Loyola Chicago | Atlantic 10 | 14–17 | 1st | Never |
| Marshall | Sun Belt | 23–9 | 2nd | 2016 |
| Merrimack | MAAC | 19–12 | 1st | Never |
| Middle Tennessee | CUSA | 16–15 | 9th | 2022 |
| Monmouth | CAA | 20–11 | 3rd | 2024 |
| Morehead State | OVC | 18–14 | 3rd | 2019 |
| NJIT | America East | 18–12 | 1st | Never |
| Norfolk State | MEAC | 18–14 | 2nd | 2022 |
| Northern Colorado | Big Sky | 22–10 | 5th | 2019 |
| Ohio | MAC | 18–13 | 6th | 2022 |
| Pepperdine | WCC | 19–12 | 7th | 2022 |
| Portland | WCC | 18–14 | 4th | 2022 |
| Purdue Fort Wayne | Horizon | 20–13 | 3rd | 2025 |
| Sam Houston | CUSA | 18–12 | 2nd | 2013 |
| San Francisco | WCC | 18–14 | 6th | 2023 |
| South Alabama | Sun Belt | 16–18 | 5th | 2019 |
| South Dakota | Summit | 23–9 | 7th | 2024 |
| Southern Indiana | OVC | 21–10 | 3rd | 2025 |
| Southern Utah | WAC | 19–12 | 2nd | 2014 |
| St. Bonaventure | Atlantic 10 | 16–15 | 5th | 2014 |
| Stetson | ASUN | 20–11 | 6th | 2024 |
| UC Davis | Big West | 23–10 | 6th | 2018 |
| UMBC | America East | 16–14 | 2nd | 2011 |
| Utah Valley | WAC | 16–14 | 2nd | 2025 |
| UTRGV | Southland | 20–13 | 2nd | 2016 |
| Wake Forest | ACC | 14–17 | 9th | 2023 |
Bracket
* – Denotes overtime period
(H) - Denotes home team
Teams with a bye are not guaranteed to play at home in the second round.
| Round 1 March 19–21 | Round 2 March 22–24 | Super 16 March 25–27 | Great 8 March 28–30 | ||||||||||||||||
| Southern Utah | 80 | ||||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Pepperdine | 71 | (H) | Pepperdine | 85 | ||||||||||||||
| UC Davis | 68 | Pepperdine | 57 | ||||||||||||||||
| (H) | South Dakota | 73 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | South Dakota | 80 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Air Force | 72 | Northern Colorado | 60 | |||||||||||||||
| Northern Colorado | 79 | (H) | South Dakota | 65 | |||||||||||||||
| Montana State | 56 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Lamar | 68 | ||||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Portland | 62 | (H) | Portland | 78 | ||||||||||||||
| Sam Houston | 59 | Portland | 54 | ||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Montana State | 72 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Montana State | 69 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | San Francisco | 80 | San Francisco | 53 | |||||||||||||||
| Utah Valley | 50 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Round 1 March 19–21 | Round 2 March 22–24 | Super 16 March 25–27 | Great 8 March 28–30 | ||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Florida Gulf Coast | 56 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Norfolk State | 54 | Loyola Chicago | 62 | |||||||||||||||
| Loyola Chicago | 58 | Loyola Chicago | 62 | ||||||||||||||||
| (H) | George Washington | 71 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Southern Indiana | 58 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | George Washington | 63 | George Washington | 61 | |||||||||||||||
| Bradley | 60 | George Washington | 53 | ||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Illinois State | 61 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Abilene Christian | 77 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | FIU | 76* | FIU | 66 | |||||||||||||||
| Stetson | 73 | Abilene Christian | 55 | ||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Illinois State | 59 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Illinois State | 81 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Austin Peay | 59 | UTRGV | 52 | |||||||||||||||
| UTRGV | 71 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Round 1 March 19–21 | Round 2 March 22–24 | Super 16 March 25–27 | Great 8 March 28–30 | ||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Army | 59 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Merrimack | 65 | NJIT | 52 | |||||||||||||||
| NJIT | 68 | (H) | Army | 74 | |||||||||||||||
| La Salle | 63 | ||||||||||||||||||
| (H) | La Salle | 70 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Mercyhurst | 60 | Binghamton | 61 | |||||||||||||||
| Binghamton | 81 | Army | 65 | ||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Marshall | 82 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Youngstown State | 61 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Wake Forest | 48 | Maryland Eastern Shore | 42 | |||||||||||||||
| Maryland Eastern Shore | 59 | (H) | Youngstown State | 46 | |||||||||||||||
| Marshall | 72 | ||||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Marshall | 66 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Ohio | 58 | UMBC | 53 | |||||||||||||||
| UMBC | 62* | ||||||||||||||||||
| Round 1 March 19–21 | Round 2 March 22–24 | Super 16 March 25–27 | Great 8 March 28–30 | ||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Purdue Fort Wayne | 77 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Alcorn State | 65 | South Alabama | 72 | |||||||||||||||
| South Alabama | 73 | Purdue Fort Wayne | 72 | ||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Arkansas State | 83 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Arkansas State | 83 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Radford | 77 | Radford | 52 | |||||||||||||||
| Morehead State | 58 | (H) | Arkansas State | 71 | |||||||||||||||
| Cleveland State | 53 | ||||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Middle Tennessee | 69 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | St. Bonaventure | 69* | St. Bonaventure | 50 | |||||||||||||||
| Drexel | 67 | (H) | Middle Tennessee | 56 | |||||||||||||||
| Cleveland State | 66 | ||||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Cleveland State | 74 | |||||||||||||||||
| (H) | Monmouth | 72 | Monmouth | 68 | |||||||||||||||
| Lehigh | 62 | ||||||||||||||||||
Fab 4 and Championship Game
| Fab 4 April 1 | Championship April 4 | ||||||||
| (H) | South Dakota | 60 | |||||||
| Illinois State | 67 | ||||||||
| Illinois State | 41 | ||||||||
| (H) | Marshall | 66 | |||||||
| Marshall | 69 | ||||||||
| (H) | Arkansas State | 62 | |||||||
