INDIANAPOLIS – Tulsa is 30-7. Auburn is on a mission.
The NIT has been around since 1938, and there has never been a championship game like this. Not when it comes to timing or location or what’s going on down the street.
They each won their semifinals Thursday in Hinkle Fieldhouse, Tulsa holding off New Mexico 74-69, Auburn beating Illinois State 88-66. So they're staying around for the weekend and consider what that means: A suite reserved for them Saturday in Lucas Oil Stadium to watch the Final Four. The title game is Sunday, a few blocks away at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. By then, the only other college basketball teams still active will be the two playing for the national championship.
Or as Tulsa’s Tylen Riley said Thursday night, “I think it's going to be like four teams left in the whole world playing.”
👀 TAKE A LOOK: At the 2026 NIT bracket
The NIT is nobody’s idea of a winning lottery ticket. By its nature, it’s a consolation prize, a Plan B for the disappointed. But as these things go, this new idea of planting the semifinals and finals in the Final Four city – and the Division II and III championship games – has been a gale force burst of fresh air.
“It just adds a little extra juice in the city,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “And I thought our guys played like it tonight.
"They are playing with a level of joy that is really good for me as a coach to see.”
The Tigers’ intention has been to wash away the bad taste of Selection Sunday with a vengeance. No sulking, no quitting. Just four wins in a row for a 21-16 record, yearning for one more. They looked pretty resolute Thursday night in rolling past Illinois State, with 24 points from Keyshawn Hall. “It's going to be fun,” Hall said. “Just have to stay locked in and finish it off.”
Lettin' it flyyy💯
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB)
📺: ESPN
As for Tulsa, the Golden Hurricane has turned this into a happy countdown.
“I've been giving them a count for probably three weeks about how many teams are playing and us being one of them,” coach Eric Konkol said. “I think it started out where we were one of 86 and just how that keeps dropping, and how very selfishly I want to coach these guys as long as I possibly can.”
They put away New Mexico with balance –five players scored between 10 and 13 points – which made 10 wins in their last 11 games. Now they get the bonus that comes with being in the NIT championship game this year.
⏮️ REWIND: Every winner of the NIT since 1938
“To do it in the place where the DII and DIII championship are, I played Division III, -- it's never happened, and it is awesome to be a part of,” Konkol said. “I've been to I can't tell you how many Final Fours, but this is my fourth time being in Indy, and it's one of the best. I am so happy that these guys get to experience it. We want to win, we want to play at the highest level. But I want these guys to have great memories being a Tulsa basketball player. They will never forget this.”
Riley won’t. “We want to keep this group playing basketball for a long time, and we're just fighting for that,” he said. “It's just an honor to play this late.”
A good-sized Tulsa crowd was here to cheer them along, dressed all in blue and... wait a second. Who’s the guy in the bow tie? That’s the new president of Valparaiso University, Brian Konkol.
Yeah, the coach’s brother. He came 2 ½ hours down I-65 to watch his older brother try to coax Tulsa through another win. Basketball coach . . . college president. Wonder how those childhood brotherly tussles went?
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“We were ferocious competitors,” Eric said. “We lived in the country. Our parents grew up dairy farmers, so we were not isolated, but we needed to figure out how to entertain ourselves.”
They played sports, especially basketball. “One-on-one turned into fights. But we liked shooting the ball a lot in the driveway together,” Eric said. And now they and the rest of their family will be together on Easter for Tulsa to be in the next-to-last game of the entire college basketball season, playing for a title smack in the middle of the Final Four.
Both sides savor the unusual chance and its trappings. “I think our guys need to be out and about and just enjoy being at a Final Four, especially guys that can come back next year,” Pearl said of Auburn. “The motivation is to obviously play in a Final Four, and for them to be able to experience and see the hype around it, I think, will be really good.
“We have an opportunity to end the year on a win. There’s only going to be one or two other teams able to do that.”
Same for Tulsa. Maybe Brian Konkol’s bow tie was good luck. Maybe the coach should consider wearing one Sunday night. Might be just the way to finish the most unique NIT ever played.
“No chance,” Eric Konkol said. “I'll let my brother wear his bow tie.”
Not your garden variety NIT.
