Unlike the postseason NIT, the preseason one is an event that teams actually want to be a part of. In addition to Iowa State - who we covered last time out - two top-50 teams will be joining Xavier at the Barclays Center. Also, the event is apparently called the NIT Season Tip-Off. We all know what it actually is though.
Memphis comes into the season as veterans of the postseason NIT, having gone there twice in three years under coach Penny Hardaway. They won it last year, which - while probably not their goal at the season's outset - isn't nothing.