1954 National Invitation Tournament
{{Short description|Annual NCAA basketball competition}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox college basketball tournament | Type = NIT
| Gender=
| Year=1954
| Image=
| ImageSize=
| Caption=
| Teams=12
| FinalFourArena=Madison Square Garden
| FinalFourCity=New York City
| Champions=Holy Cross Crusaders
| TitleCount=1st
| RunnerUp=Duquesne Dukes
| GameCount=2nd
| Semifinal1=Niagara Purple Eagles
| SemifinalCount=1st
| Semifinal2=Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
| SemifinalCount2=3rd
| Coach=Lester Sheary
| CoachCount=1st
| MOP=Togo Palazzi
| MOPTeam=Holy Cross
}}
The 1954 National Invitation Tournament was the 1954 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition.
Selected teams
Below is a list of the 12 teams selected for the tournament.[http://www.nit.org/history/nit-postseason-results-1950s.html Tournament Results (1950s)] at nit.org, URL accessed December 8, 2009. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100326191327/http://www.nit.org/history/nit-postseason-results-1950s.html Archived] 11/7/09 There were 4 seeded teams, which received a bye in the first round, (1) Duquesne, (2) Western Kentucky, (3) Holy Cross, and (4) Niagara.{{cite web|title=ST. FRANCIS BEATS LOUISVILLE, 60-55|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1954/03/07/92551055.html?pageNumber=206|work=New York Times|accessdate=13 January 2020}}
| class="wikitable"
! Participants ! Seed |
| Duquesne
|1 |
| Western Kentucky State
|2 |
| Holy Cross
|3 |
| Niagara
|4 |
| Bowling Green
| |
| BYU
| |
| Dayton
| |
| Louisville
| |
| Manhattan
| |
| St. Francis (NY)
| |
| Saint Francis (PA)
| |
| Wichita State
| |
Bracket
Below is the tournament bracket.
{{4RoundBracket-Byes | RD2=Quarterfinals| RD3=Semifinals | RD4=Finals
| RD1-seed01=
| RD1-team01=Bowling Green
| RD1-score01=88
| RD1-seed02=
| RD1-team02=Wichita State
| RD1-score02=64
| RD1-seed07=
| RD1-team07=St. Francis (NY)
| RD1-score07=60
| RD1-seed08=
| RD1-team08=Louisville
| RD1-score08=55
| RD1-seed09=
| RD1-team09=Saint Francis (PA)
| RD1-score09=81
| RD1-seed10=
| RD1-team10=BYU
| RD1-score10=68
| RD1-seed15=
| RD1-team15=Dayton
| RD1-score15=90
| RD1-seed16=
| RD1-team16=Manhattan
| RD1-score16=79
| RD2-seed01=
| RD2-team01=Bowling Green
| RD2-score01=81
| RD2-seed02= 2
| RD2-team02=Western Kentucky
| RD2-score02=95
| RD2-seed03= 3
| RD2-team03=Holy Cross
| RD2-score03=93
| RD2-seed04=
| RD2-team04=St. Francis (NY)
| RD2-score04=69
| RD2-seed05=
| RD2-team05=Saint Francis (PA)
| RD2-score05=63
| RD2-seed06= 1
| RD2-team06=Duquesne
| RD2-score06=69
| RD2-seed07= 4
| RD2-team07=Niagara
| RD2-score07=77
| RD2-seed08=
| RD2-team08=Dayton
| RD2-score08=74
| RD3-seed01= 2
| RD3-team01=Western Kentucky
| RD3-score01=69
| RD3-seed02= 3
| RD3-team02=Holy Cross
| RD3-score02=75
| RD3-seed03= 1
| RD3-team03=Duquesne
| RD3-score03=66
| RD3-seed04= 4
| RD3-team04=Niagara
| RD3-score04=51
| RD4-seed01= 3
| RD4-team01=Holy Cross
| RD4-score01=71
| RD4-seed02= 1
| RD4-team02=Duquesne
| RD4-score02=62
}}
{{2TeamBracket
| RD1=Third place game
| RD1-seed1= 2
| RD1-team1=Western Kentucky
| RD1-score1=66
| RD1-seed2= 4
| RD1-team2=Niagara
| RD1-score2=71
}}