The NCAA's NIT tournament is moving out of New York for the first time in its history. The NIT had been played in New York City since it started in 1939 but was canceled last year because of the pandemic.
This year, the NCAA has moved the tournament to North Texas and will cut the field from 32 to 16 teams. Most years, the first and second rounds of the tournament are held at participating colleges; the semi-finals and finals are held at Madison Square Garden.
Starting March 17, the NIT will take place at UNT Coliseum in Denton and Comerica Center in Frisco.
"A number of things are starting to gear up as we begin to look at, hopefully, smoother seas ahead," says UNT President Neal Smatresk.
"All of our partners here in Frisco have taken a really strong approach to make sure we're having safe events," says Josh Dill, Director of Sports and Events at Visit Frisco.
Before the snowstorm, Frisco and several other cities in North Texas hosted 110 youth hockey teams for the Dallas Stars' Top Shelf Hockey Challenge.
"We've hosted a number of large sporting events over this time," Dill says. "There's been no tracing back to them as super-spreader events."
Dill says Visit Frisco has worked with the city, hotels, restaurants and venues to get as many locations as possible accredited by the Global Biorisk Advisory Council.
"All of our partners here in Frisco have taken a really strong approach to make sure they're having safe events," he says. "It's a cool story for us. I think it adds to the story of what Frisco and, really, Texas have done to make sure events are still happening in safe ways."
Dill says hosting a safe NIT could help boost the entire area's profile as a destination for large events after the pandemic.
"I've had at least three other event organizers reach out to me and say, 'Congrats on the NIT. I want to talk to you about an event coming up we think you can host safely,'" he says. "It's only going to do good things for North Texas, for Denton, for Frisco. It's a win-win situation all the way around."
The NCAA says a smaller field and reduced travel aim to create a safer event for participants.
The field for the NIT will be announced Sunday, March 14. Games will begin in Denton and Frisco Wednesday, March 17 with the semi-finals and finals scheduled March 27-28. Venues for each round have not been finalized.