Preseason NIT Takes Over

Preseason tournaments are a way for coaches to get their young teams a taste of March Madness in the first month of the season. Unlike professional basketball, a NCAA head coach has to deal with losing many of his players every year to both the NBA draft and graduation. And while the incoming freshmen would normally be physically mature by most people's standards, many of them are physically underdeveloped compared to the college "veterans."

These preseason tournaments, such as the Preseason NIT, the Maui Invitational, and the Great Alaska Shootout, help to get teams to bond and to create battle-tested players before the tough conference schedules begin in January.

The Preseason NIT is the premier preseason tournament, holding its final at Madison Square Garden and features some of the first games of the college basketball season. UConn's Huskies