The 2017 NIT bracket and tip times for the first round have been set. Syracuse, California, Illinois State and Iowa earned top seed for the tournament as the first four out of the NCAA Tournament. Akron, Monmouth, Belmont, Oakland, South Dakota and UNC-Greensboro earned bids to the NIT by winning the regular-season championship in their respective conferences. 

Region 1

No. 1 Syracuse hosts No. 8 UNC Greensboro
No. 4 Monmouth hosts No. 5 Ole Miss

No. 3 Indiana hosts No. 6 Georgia Tech
No. 2 Georgia hosts No. 7 Belmont

Region 2

No. 1 Cal hosts No. 8 CSU Bakersfield
No. 4 Colorado State hosts No. 5 Charleston

No. 3 BYU hosts No. 6 UT-Arlington
No. 2 Houston hosts No. 7 Akron

Region 3

No. 1 Illinois State hosts No. 8 UC Irvine
No. 4 UCF hosts No. 5 Colorado

No. 3 Utah hosts No. 6 Boise State
No. 2 Illinois hosts No. 7 Valparaiso

Region 4

No. 1 Iowa hosts No. 8 South Dakota
No. 4 TCU hosts No. 5 Fresno State

No. 3 Alabama hosts No. 6 Richmond
No. 2 Clemson hosts No. 7 Oakland

Round 1, March 14-16 -- higher seed hosts
Round 2, March 17-20 -- higher seed hosts
Quarterfinals, March 21-22 -- higher seed hosts 
Semifinals, March 28 -- Madison Square Garden, New York City
Final, March 30 -- Madison Square Garden, New York City

Rule changes to note

A few experimental rule changes will be in place for the NIT, allowing the NCAA to collect more data as it considers the impact of its current game format with two 20-minute halves. These rules break down the accumulation of team fouls into 10-minute segments, providing a snapshot of what college basketball with four quarters might look like. 

The biggest change to take effect during the NIT is resetting team fouls to zero at the end of 10-minute segments during each half, the NCAA said in a statement announcing several experimental rule changes.

“The committee believes resetting the team fouls to zero at the 9:59 mark of each half may have the same effect as resetting the team fouls to zero at the end of each quarter, while at the same time allowing for men’s college basketball to retain the unique format of two 20-minute halves,” the NCAA statement said.

In these 31 NIT games, after a team commits its fifth personal or technical foul in each 10-minute segment (and all fouls after that), the other team will shoot two free throws -- essentially dividing the game into four quarters when it comes to how team fouls are counted, but not changing how the game itself is is timed.

Existing standard rules call for a team to shoot “1-and-1” free throws after its opponent commits seven team fouls in a half and and two free throws starting when a team commits 10 team fouls in a half.

The experimental rules will eliminate “1-and-1” free throws.

Another rule change put in place for the 2017 NIT: the shot clock will be reset to 20 seconds instead of 30 seconds when the ball is in-bounded in the front court.