1971 National Invitation Tournament
{{Short description|Annual NCAA basketball competition}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox college basketball tournament | Type = NIT
| Gender=
| Year=1971
| Image=
| ImageSize=
| Caption=
| Teams=16
| FinalFourArena=Madison Square Garden
| FinalFourCity=New York City
| Champions=North Carolina Tar Heels
| TitleCount=1st
| RunnerUp={{cbb link|1970|sex=men|team=Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets|title=Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets}}
| GameCount=1st
| Semifinal1={{cbb link|1970|sex=men|team=St. Bonaventure Bonnies|title=St. Bonaventure Bonnies}}
| SemifinalCount=5th
| Semifinal2=Duke Blue Devils
| SemifinalCount2=1st
| Coach=Dean Smith
| CoachCount=1st
| MOP=Bill Chamberlain
| MOPTeam=North Carolina
}}
The 1971 National Invitation Tournament was the 1971 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. 1971 was unique because it was the only time that major rivals Duke and North Carolina had played each other after the ACC tournament until the 2022 NCAA Final Four clash. Eventual ACC member Georgia Tech also made the semis, and lost to North Carolina in the championship. The fourth semifinalist, St. Bonaventure, was playing its first season following the departure of All-American Bob Lanier, who led the Brown Indians to the 1970 Final Four (Lanier was injured in the 1970 regional final vs. Villanova and did not play in either Final Four game).
Selected teams
Below is a list of the 16 teams selected for the tournament.[http://www.nit.org/history/nit-postseason-results-1970s.html Tournament Results (1970's)] at nit.org, URL accessed November 7, 2009. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090422061055/http://www.nit.org/history/nit-postseason-results-1970s.html Archived] 11/7/09
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
!Team !Conference !data-sort-type="number"|Overall record !data-sort-type="number"|Appearance !Last bid |
| align=left|{{cbb link|1970|sex=men|team=Dayton Flyers|title=Dayton}}
| align=left|Independent | 18–8 | 12th | 1968 |
| align=left|Duke
| align=left|ACC | 18–8 | 4th | 1970 |
| align=left|{{cbb link|1970|sex=men|team=Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets|title=Georgia Tech}}
| align=left|Independent | 20–8 | 2nd | 1970 |
| align=left|{{cbb link|1970|sex=none|team=Hawaii Rainbow Warriors|title=Hawaii}}
| align=left|Independent | 22–4 | 1st | Never |
| align=left|{{cbb link|1970|sex=men|team=La Salle Explorers|title=La Salle}}
| align=left|Middle Atlantic | 20–6 | 8th | 1965 |
| align=left|{{cbb link|1970|sex=men|team=Louisville Cardinals|title=Louisville}}
| align=left|Missouri Valley | 20–8 | 9th | 1970 |
| align=left|Michigan
| align=left|Big Ten | 18–6 | 1st | Never |
| align=left|North Carolina
| align=left|ACC | 22–6 | 2nd | 1970 |
| align=left|{{cbb link|1970|sex=men|team=Oklahoma Sooners|title=Oklahoma}}
| align=left|Big Eight | 19–7 | 2nd | 1970 |
| align=left|{{cbb link|1970|sex=men|team=Providence Friars|title=Providence}}
| align=left|Independent | 19–7 | 7th | 1967 |
| align=left|Purdue
| align=left|Big Ten | 18–6 | 1st | Never |
| align=left|{{cbb link|1970|sex=men|team=St. Bonaventure Bonnies|title=St. Bonaventure}}
| align=left|Independent | 18–5 | 8th | 1964 |
| align=left|St. John's
| align=left|Independent | 18–8 | 20th | 1970 |
| align=left|{{cbb link|1970|sex=none|team=Syracuse Orangemen|title=Syracuse}}
| align=left|Independent | 19–6 | 5th | 1967 |
| align=left|{{cbb link|1970|sex=none|team=Tennessee Volunteers|title=Tennessee}}
| align=left|SEC | 20–6 | 3rd | 1969 |
| align=left|{{cbb link|1970|sex=none|team=UMass Redmen|title=UMass}}
| align=left|Yankee | 23–3 | 2nd | 1970 |
Bracket
Below is the tournament bracket.
{{16TeamBracket | RD1=First Round
| RD2=Quarterfinals
| RD3=Semifinals
| RD4=Finals
| RD1-seed01=
| RD1-team01=North Carolina
| RD1-score01=90
| RD1-seed02=
| RD1-team02={{cbb link|1970|sex=men|team=UMass Redmen|title=UMass}}
| RD1-score02=49
| RD1-seed03=
| RD1-team03={{cbb link|1970|sex=men|team=Providence Friars|title=Providence}}
| RD1-score03=64
| RD1-seed04=
| RD1-team04={{cbb link|1970|sex=men|team=Louisville Cardinals|title=Louisville}}
| RD1-score04=58
| RD1-seed05=
| RD1-team05={{cbb link|1970|sex=none|team=Tennessee Volunteers|title=Tennessee}}
| RD1-score05=84
| RD1-seed06=
| RD1-team06=St. John's
| RD1-score06=83
| RD1-seed07=
| RD1-team07=Duke
| RD1-score07=68
| RD1-seed08=
| RD1-team08={{cbb link|1970|sex=men|team=Dayton Flyers|title=Dayton}}
| RD1-score08=60
| RD1-seed09=
| RD1-team09=Michigan
| RD1-score09=86
| RD1-seed10=
| RD1-team10={{cbb link|1970|sex=none|team=Syracuse Orangemen|title=Syracuse}}
| RD1-score10=76
| RD1-seed11=
| RD1-team11={{cbb link|1970|sex=men|team=Georgia Tech Yellowjackets|title=Georgia Tech}}
| RD1-score11=70
| RD1-seed12=
| RD1-team12={{cbb link|1970|sex=men|team=La Salle Explorers|title=La Salle}}
| RD1-score12=67
| RD1-seed13=
| RD1-team13={{cbb link|1970|sex=men|team=St. Bonaventure Bonnies|title=St. Bonaventure}}
| RD1-score13=94
| RD1-seed14=
| RD1-team14=Purdue
| RD1-score14=79
| RD1-seed15=
| RD1-team15={{cbb link|1970|sex=none|team=Hawaii Rainbow Warriors|title=Hawaii}}
| RD1-score15=87
| RD1-seed16=
| RD1-team16={{cbb link|1970|sex=men|team=Oklahoma Sooners|title=Oklahoma}}
| RD1-score16=86
| RD2-seed01=
| RD2-team01=North Carolina
| RD2-score01=86
| RD2-seed02=
| RD2-team02=Providence
| RD2-score02=79
| RD2-seed03=
| RD2-team03=Tennessee
| RD2-score03=64
| RD2-seed04=
| RD2-team04=Duke
| RD2-score04=78
| RD2-seed05=
| RD2-team05=Michigan
| RD2-score05=70
| RD2-seed06=
| RD2-team06=Georgia Tech
| RD2-score06=78
| RD2-seed07=
| RD2-team07=St. Bonaventure
| RD2-score07=73
| RD2-seed08=
| RD2-team08=Hawaii
| RD2-score08=64
| RD3-seed01=
| RD3-team01=North Carolina
| RD3-score01=73
| RD3-seed02=
| RD3-team02=Duke
| RD3-score02=69
| RD3-seed03=
| RD3-team03=Georgia Tech
| RD3-score03=76
| RD3-seed04=
| RD3-team04=St. Bonaventure
| RD3-score04=71
| RD4-seed01=
| RD4-team01=North Carolina
| RD4-score01=84
| RD4-seed02=
| RD4-team02=Georgia Tech
| RD4-score02=66
}}
{{2TeamBracket
| RD1=Third place game
| RD1-seed1=
| RD1-team1=Duke
| RD1-score1=88
| RD1-seed2=
| RD1-team2=St. Bonaventure
| RD1-score2=92
}}