1970_National_Invitation_Tournament References

1970 National Invitation Tournament
Teams	16
Finals site	Madison Square Garden; New York City
Champions	Marquette Warriors (1st title)
Runner-up	St. John's Redmen (7th title game)
Semifinalists	Army Cadets (5th semifinal); LSU Tigers (1st semifinal);
Winning coach	Al McGuire (1st title)
MVP	Dean Meminger (Marquette)
National Invitation Tournaments
« 1969	1971»

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.^[1]^[2] 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 2022–23 season, despite the reinstitution of freshman eligibility (1972–73) and the introduction of the shot clock (1985–86) and 3-point shot (1986–87). 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.

Team	Conference	Overall record	Appearance	Last bid
Army	Independent	19–5	7th	1969
Cincinnati	Missouri Valley	21–5	4th	1957
Duke	ACC	17–8	3rd	1968
Duquesne	Independent	17–6	13th	1968
Georgetown	Independent	18–6	2nd	1953
Georgia Tech	Independent	16–9	1st	Never
Louisville	Missouri Valley	18–8	8th	1969
LSU	SEC	20–8	1st	Never
Manhattan	Independent	17–7	10th	1966
Marquette	Independent	22–3	4th	1967
Miami (OH)	MAC	16–7	1st	Never
North Carolina	ACC	18–8	1st	Never
Oklahoma	Big Eight	18–8	1st	Never
St. John's	Independent	18–7	19th	1966
UMass	Yankee	18–6	1st	Never
Utah	WAC	17–9	6th	1957

Bracket

First Round		Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Finals

Manhattan	95

North Carolina	90
		Manhattan	72

		Army	77
Army	72

Cincinnati	67
				Army	59

				St. John's	60
Georgia Tech	78

Duquesne	68
		Georgia Tech	55

		St. John's	56
St. John's	70

Miami (OH)	57
						St. John's	53

						Marquette	65
Marquette	62

UMass	55
		Marquette	83

		Utah	63
Utah	78

Duke	75
				Marquette	101

				LSU	79
Oklahoma	74

Louisville	73
		Oklahoma	94

		LSU	97
LSU	83

Georgetown	82

	Third place game

	Army		75

	LSU		68

References

^ Al McGuire, 72, Coach, TV Analyst and Character, Dies - New York Times
^ "Marquette takes NIT over NCAA bid". Great Falls Tribune. February 25, 1970. p. 11. Retrieved January 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

[1] Al McGuire, 72, Coach, TV Analyst and Character, Dies - New York Times

[2] "Marquette takes NIT over NCAA bid". Great Falls Tribune. February 25, 1970. p. 11. Retrieved January 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

[1]

[2]

Selected teams

Bracket

See also

References