All Four 2017 NIT Season Tip-Off Squads Selected for NCAA Tournament

Virginia, Seton Hall, Rhode Island and Vanderbilt In Action Thursday, Friday

BROOKLYN (March 16, 2016) – The NIT Season Tip-Off will return to Barclays Center for a third-straight season Thanksgiving Week 2017, featuring four teams that have been selected to the NCAA Tournament field this March.

The field includes the University of Virginia of the Atlantic Coast Conference, 2016 BIG EAST Conference Champion Seton Hall University, 2017 Atlantic 10 Conference Champion University of Rhode Island and Vanderbilt University of the Southeastern Conference.

• Virginia, ranked No. 24 in this week’s AP Poll, opens 2017 NCAA play as the No. 5 seed in the East at 12:40 p.m. on Thursday, against No. 12 UNC Wilmington. The Cavaliers return to Brooklyn, where two Thanksgivings ago Tony Bennett’s team won the 2014 Barclays Center Classic.

• Seton Hall – receiving votes in both national polls this week – earned a No. 9 seed in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, and takes on No. 8 Arkansas in the NCAA First Round. Led by Brooklyn products Khadeen Carrington (Bishop Loughlin) and King’s County high school standout Desi Rodriguez (Lincoln), Kevin Willard’s Pirates bring their local flavor back to Barclays Center this Thanksgiving Week.

• Rhode Island, also receiving AP votes this week, went 24-9 to date and has posted winning records in eight of the last 11 seasons. Head coach Dan Hurley’s Rams earned the Atlantic 10 championship and a No. 11 seed, where they will take on No. 6 Creighton.

• Vanderbilt, seeded No. 9 in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, won 19 games in each of the last two seasons headed into a First Round matchup with No. 8 Northwestern. The Commodores return to Barclays Center this fall for the first time since 2014.

Next year will mark the third-straight year at Barclays Center for the NIT Season Tip-Off, which has been played in New York City every November since 1985. Defending NCAA National Champion Villanova won the event in 2015. Current NCAA No. 3 seed Florida State and fourth-seeded West Virginia were featured in the 2016 NIT Season Tip-Off at Barclays Center.

The NIT Season Tip-Off is one of 11 college basketball events owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN.

About ESPN Events

ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a large portfolio of collegiate sporting events worldwide. The roster includes three Labor Day weekend college football games; FCS opening-weekend game; 13 college bowl games, 11 college basketball events and two college award shows, which accounts for approximately 250-plus hours of programming, reaches almost 64 million viewers and attracts over 700,000 attendees each year. With satellite offices in Albuquerque, Birmingham, Boca Raton, Boise, Dallas-Fort Worth, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Montgomery and St. Petersburg, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans.

ESPN Events also manages the Big 12 Corporate Partner Program.

Collegiate Football

AdvoCare Texas Kickoff (Houston); Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl (Atlanta); Birmingham Bowl (Alabama); Boca Raton Bowl (Florida); Camping World Kickoff (Orlando, Fla.); Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Boise); Gildan New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu); Las Vegas Bowl (Nevada); Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (Dallas-Fort Worth); MEAC/SWAC Challenge (Baton Rouge, La.); Montgomery Kickoff Classic (Montgomery, Ala.); Popeyes Bahamas Bowl (Nassau); Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (Montgomery, Ala.); St. Petersburg Bowl (Florida); Texas Bowl (Houston); The Home Depot College Football Awards (Atlanta) and Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl (Dallas-Fort Worth)

Collegiate Basketball

AdvoCare Invitational (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); College Basketball Awards Presented by Wendy’s (Los Angeles); Gildan Charleston Classic (South Carolina); Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Jimmy V Men’s  Classic presented by Corona (New York City); Jimmy V Women’s Classic presented by Corona (Connecticut); NIT Season Tip-Off (Brooklyn, N.Y.); PK80 (Portland, Ore.); Armed Forces Classic (Honolulu); State Farm Champions Classic (New York City); Tire Pros Invitational (Orlando, Fla.) and Wooden Legacy (Orange County, Calif.)

For more information, visit the official website, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube pages.

ABOUT BROOKLYN SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment (BSE) develops and operates state-of-the-art venues and manages premier sports franchises, delivering dynamic content and experiences for audiences. BSE oversees programming, marketing, sales, and operations for Barclays Center and NYCB Live, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Presented By New York Community Bank, and manages and controls the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets and its Development League team, the Long Island Nets, as well as the business operations of the NHL’s New York Islanders.

Barclays Center, which opened on September 28, 2012, offers 17,732 seats for basketball, 15,795 for hockey, and up to 19,000 seats for concerts, and has 101 luxury suites, four bars/lounges, four clubs, and 40/40 CLUB & Restaurant by Tanduay.

NYCB Live, scheduled to reopen April 5, 2017 after extensive renovation, will offer 13,000 seats for hockey, 13,500 for basketball, and 14,500 for standard concert configurations, with the ability to flex up. The bowl will have a theater seating option for 4,000 guests. With a focus on emerging businesses, BSE identifies and creates alliances, strategic partners and other business opportunities to ensure the success of its assets.

For additional information, please visit Brooklynse.com.

~Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment~