CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament

The tournament initially consisted of five rounds, single elimination-style, and leveraged the "use the old NIT model in which matchups in future rounds are determined by the results of the previous round".^[6] The revived CIT, starting in 2024, features an altered format. The plan was for four schools to each host a four-team pod with two semifinals and a final the next day. The winners were to advance to the CIT national semifinals to be played on campus sites, and the championship game played at the site of the highest remaining seed. The entire field was to be seeded 1 through 16.^[7] The format had to be revised, since only nine teams committed to play. A substantially similar format as the original planned for 2024 was announced in February 2025, for the 2025 edition of the tournament. However, no 2025 tournament was played.

Criteria for selection include, but are not limited to, win–loss record, strength of schedule, strength of conference, and final ten games. Teams from major conferences, i.e. conferences not included in the CollegeInsider.com mid-major poll, are generally ineligible. In the early years of the tournament, participating teams had to finish the regular season with a minimum .500 winning percentage to be considered. An exception to this rule was provided for the champion of the now-defunct Great West Conference tournament, who was given an automatic bid to play in the CIT, if they did not receive an at-large bid to participate in the NCAA or NIT tournaments. In 2013, Chicago State won the last Great West Conference tournament and became the first team to participate in the CIT with a losing record (11–21). The Great West Conference dissolved in 2013.^[8]

From 2016 to 2019, the Coach John McLendon Classic was played on the first day of the CIT. The classic was to feature at least one historically black college/university. The winner of the John McLendon Classic advanced to the second round of the CIT. This was the first time in NCAA Division I basketball history that a "classic" had been part of a postseason tournament. Previously the John McLendon Classic had been played during the regular season. Starting with the 2024 edition, multiple classics were contested during the tournament, and the team winning each classic earned a trophy. Only nine teams agreed to participate in 2024 CIT. In the cancelled 2025 tournament, the finals of each of the four pods were planned to be designated as classics.

As of 2017, teams were required to pay $30,000 to host a game.^[9]

In 2013, CBS Sports Network partnered with the CIT, showing only the championship game, with the earlier rounds streamed live online. Free registration was required to view the games. Starting in 2014, CBSSN aired the semifinals along with the championship game.^[10] In 2017, the early rounds of the tournament were shown on Facebook Live. In 2018, Monday's four classics were broadcast by CBSSN. All remaining games until the semifinals were moved to CBS' Sports Live streaming service and watchcit.com. In 2024, games were broadcast or streamed in accordance with the television contracts of the host teams. Since Norfolk State hosted the 2024 final, it was streamed on Spartan Showcase.

The following summarizes the television networks and announcers that have broadcast the CIT: