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Basketball team to play in Preseason NIT 
John J. Powers, executive director of the National Invitational Tournament, announced the field for the 2000 preseason NIT, now in its 16th year. Former preseason NIT champions Duke and Indiana, along with NCAA participants Temple, Texas and Pepperdine highlight the field. Also featured in the nation's premier preseason event is New Mexico, a finalist in the 1987 preseason tournament and a post-season NIT participant. Other post-season NIT entries included in the field are Villanova out of the Big East, the Pac 10's California, Ivy League's Princeton, Marquette from Conference USA and America East's Delaware. Completing the 2000 edition of the preseason event is Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference entry Fairfield, Mississippi State from the Southeastern Conference, the Patriot League's Navy and first-time entry South Alabama from the Sun Belt Conference. "The Preseason NIT quickly established itself as the nation's premier preseason event, and this year's field measures up to the high standards that we set early and have maintained for the past 16 years," commented Powers, the former athletic director at Manhattan College, now in his twelfth year at the NIT helm. The games will be played on a regional basis throughout the nation with the semi-final championship doubleheaders taking place in New York's Madison Square Garden. The brackets and dates for the tournament will be released at a later date. |
