In 1970, Marquette stunned the college basketball world by doing something almost unthinkable—they said no to the NCAA Tournament. Why? Because they didn’t like their spot in the bracket. Instead, they chose the National Invitation Tournament—and won it. In today’s video, we’ll take a look back at how that one decision embarrassed the NCAA so badly, they changed the rules forever. And how in the years that followed, the NCAA expanded, introduced seeding, and a women’s tournament – all of which transformed March Madness into the juggernaut we know today.
The Snub
In the early 1970’s, the NCAA tournament enacted two major changes to how the tournament would run. The first coming in 1971, when the NCAA announced that teams who declined to take part in their tournament would be banned from partaking in any other post-season tournaments. This rule came to be in part because a year earlier, Marquette decided to decline their invitation to the NCAA tournament in favor of playing in the NIT competition instead (a tournament that they’d go on to win). Marquette declined their invite because they felt slighted by their regional placement in the bracket. They had been slotted in the “Midwest” bracket, rather than their preferred “Mideast” bracket which was geographically closer to the school. As crazy as that might sound today, Marquette’s coach Al McGwuire reasoned that the NIT was held in New York, at Madison Square Garden. This provided a much bigger media market, and exposure to the young college kids playing in the game, that they may not have received playing in the NCAA tournament (with the final being held at College Park, in Maryland that year). The other major change came in 1975, when the NCAA opened up the tournament to allow multiple teams from the same conference to compete. Due to this change, the tournament would undergo major expansions over the next several years. Starting in 1975, it expanded to 32 teams, 40 teams in 1979, and 48 teams in 1980. In 1983, the NCAA introduced a seventh round, with four play-in games that brought the total number of teams to 52. The following season, the tournament added an additional play-in game, with a total of 53 teams competing.
The NIT’s Decline
For the National Invitational Tournament, the NCAA’s ban on other competitions, the expansion to allow more teams, and NBC moving the semi-finals to Saturday and the championship game to Monday night (which became ratings powerhouse) proved to be too much for the struggling NIT to try and compete with the NCAA. By late 1970s, the NCAA’s March Madness had pulled away from the NIT in popularity, and would only continue to grow from there. During this period, a few other changes were made to the tournament as well. For example, a staple of the tournament, team seeding, was first introduced by the Division I Basketball Committee during the 1978 tournament (which caused some controversy at the time, with some media outlets declaring the seeding as unfair). Also, the third place consolation game that had been part of the competition for decades, was fully eliminated in 1981. Finally, a women’s edition to the tournament was first introduced in 1982, marking a historic moment for women’s collegiate sports. The tournament’s inception laid the foundation for the growth and recognition of women’s collegiate basketball, providing female athletes with an opportunity to showcase their skills, compete for a national title, and contribute to the broader evolution of women’s sports. The success of the 1982 tournament played a pivotal role in establishing the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament as an annual tradition that continues to captivate audiences and celebrate the achievements of women in collegiate basketball.
Marquette’s bold decision in 1970 wasn’t just a one-time protest—it was a turning point. It forced the NCAA to rethink its approach, reshaped postseason college basketball, and accelerated the decline of the once-prestigious NIT. What followed was a wave of changes that helped transform March Madness into the national spectacle it is today. Expanded brackets, team seeding, and prime-time coverage all played a role in cementing the NCAA’s place at the center of college basketball. Looking back, it’s clear that one defiant choice helped shape the future of the sport.
If you were Marquette in 1970, would you have made the same call—or taken the NCAA invite despite the disrespect?
Do you think the NCAA was right to ban teams from choosing other tournaments, or was that a power move to crush the competition? Let us know in the comments below!
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