Aug. 2, 2007

NEW YORK -

Complete Bracket in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

NEW YORK -- The University of Washington men's basketball team will host the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Utah and High Point in the first two games of the 16-team 2007 Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament to open the upcoming season.

"We are very excited to be a participant in the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament," said UW head coach Lorenzo Romar. "There are some very good basketball teams in this tournament. Whenever you have a chance to play in a tournament as prestigious as this, it is great for your program. Hopefully, we can play well enough to get to Madison Square Garden and make our presence felt."

"I think this is a great reward to our fans," he added. "Our fans support us as well as anyone in the country. To be able to bring the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament right here in front of our people is a big, big plus for us."

When asked if he knows anything about New Jersey Institute of Technology, Romar said "By the time we play them, we will."

The NIT Season Tip-Off, founded in 1985, will feature all first- and second-round contests at campus sites. All teams in the tournament are guaranteed at least two games. ESPN will provide coverage of the event, televising games on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU.

The East Regional will take place on November 12 and 13 at Syracuse University. The first round doubleheader will showcase the Syracuse Orangemen against the Saints of Siena College while St. Joseph's University will square off against Fairleigh Dickinson University. The championship and consolation games follow the next day.

In the West Regional on November 13, the University of Washington will host New Jersey Institute of Technology in the first game while the University of Utah takes on High Point University in the second contest. The championship and consolation game will take place on November 14.

The Midwest Regional will take place at Ohio State University on November 12 when the Buckeyes play the University of Wisconsin Green-Bay and Columbia University faces Delaware State University. The championship and consolation game will take place on November 13.

In the South Regional, Oral Roberts University will visit Texas A&M University and the University of Texas, El Paso will play Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi. The South region will play on November 13 and 14.

The Tournament will culminate in New York's Madison Square Garden with the semi final doubleheader tipping at 7 p.m. ET on November 21 (ESPN2). The championship doubleheader will be played on November 23, with the consolation game starting at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN with the championship game tipping at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

The post season NIT was founded in 1938 by a group of New York City sportswriters while the NIT Season Tip-Off, formerly known as the preseason NIT, started in 1985. An independent at-large committee chooses the field for both events. Since the inception of the two Tournaments, tens of thousands of student-athletes and coaches have participated. Visit www.nit.org for more details on Tournament history, selection committee and procedures.