NIT and WBIT format changes along with tournament final sites announced

Both the NIT and WBIT announced some slight changes for their 2027 tournaments. The NCAA has also announced that the NIT championship game will be hosted at Detroit Mercy on April 4, running alongside the NCAA Tournament's Final Four, while the WBIT semifinals and championship will be held in Wichita, Kan., on March 29 and 31. Both tournaments will feature 24 teams, down from 32 because of the expansion of March Madness.

The changes to the NIT can potentially have huge implications on this year's tournament. Previously, the premiere 12 conferences would receive exempt bids for the tournament. Exempt bids are guaranteed bids to specific high achieving teams that barely missed the NCAA Tournament in said conferences. Now, exempt bids are given to the top 10 conferences. The highest ranked team in each of those conferences will automatically be included in the NIT, if accepted. Additionally, the ACC and SEC will receive one exempt bid. Conferences are ranked by the NCAA directly from Ken Pomeroy, better well-known as KenPom, who mathematically ranks every single Division-I program in the country.

The WBIT saw some changes from previous years. The first round features eight games at a hosting campus. From there, the winners will be scattered around to face the top eight seeds in the WBIT. With how teams are selected is where the huge changes came. To be considered for an at-large bit, teams must have at least a .500 regular season record. After that, teams with an average NET and WAB ranking of under 100 will be considered. Lastly, programs that won their conference regular season that have an average NET and WAB ranking 110 or better will automatically qualify for the WBIT.

With said changes to each tournament, it'll be exciting to see how each tournament looks heading into and throughout the season. Each field will be selected on Sunday, March 14 and all games will take place on ESPN Networks.