Free Hoops

NIT Stu's back with two important updates and one starting five. The starting five? Summer resolutions. Hope you brought your VCR.

We have a special guest today: The best season of the year. With Memorial Day Weekend in the rearview, NIT Stu walks us through the Starting Five of Summer Days. Make sure you listen carefully. You don't want to get this wrong.

2008 NIT Champion Mark Titus joins NIT Stu to talk about something other than college basketball: The Indy 500, a race near and dear to America's heart.

Bennett Conlin, one half of JMU Sports News, joins the show to talk about the rise of James Madison athletics: How did JMU buck the conventional wisdom, growing with football—not basketball—leading the way? This week's Starting Five is "Things Named After Presidents." There is, of course, some NIT talk towards the end.

Aaron Margelofsky joins NIT Stu to talk about the 106 college basketball games he attended this season and to draft starting fives of college basketball's best arenas.

No guest this week. The topic was too important. What was that topic? We're not sure. Five starting fives, though. Even though he says there are four, there are really five.

Sam Federman of Brackets, Bubble, and Bid Stealers joins NIT Stu to talk MAAC: Amarri Monroe's transfer decision, the excellence of MAAC nicknames, everything to know about MAACscots, and even more.

College football writer Steve Helwick of SB Nation's Hustle Belt and Underdog Dynasty joins NIT Stu to talk NBA Playoffs: Who can win it all? Who can surprise? Then, we each draft a starting five of only NIT alumni playing in this postseason. Sorry for the late episode this week. Tuesdays are the plan. Execution is the problem.

Chattanooga's victory lap continues, as Garrison Keeslar and Bash Wieland join the show just a few days into their NIT championship reign.

The Chattanooga Mocs are NIT champions. We talk (briefly) with head coach Dan Earl, NIT Most Outstanding Player Trey Bonham, and six-time Pro Bowler (and UTC basketball alum) Terrell Owens. Then, NIT Stu highlights a few aspects of the game, and we close with thank-you's and shoutouts before a rambling discourse on the past, present, and future of postseason college basketball. Thank you for liste...

NIT Stu offers some final thoughts on the semifinals, breaks down the championship, and shares his latest ponderings on the future of the National Invitation Tournament. Also: Battle Hymn update at the end.

All four Final Four head coaches join NIT Stu ahead of tonight's semifinals. 4:12 - Dan Earl 13:22 - Drew Valentine 22:06 - Ross Hodge 30:44 - Russell Turner

As NIT Final Four week begins, NIT Stu's joined by four different experts to get you up to speed on the four NIT semifinalists: 2:59 - Rocco Miller from The Bracketeer, on UC Irvine 16:32 - Hank Dickenson from North Texas, on North Texas 30:13 - Dave from TalkinBlers, on Loyola 45:50 - Jack Gold from Two Bid SoCon, on Chattanooga

The NIT Final Four is set, and what a road we took to get here. NIT Stu recaps each game of the best round of the tournament, with some help from Miles of the North Texas Eagle when it comes to the latest Mean Green victory.

NIT Stu reacts to a banner day in NIT history. Then, we're visited by Greg Peterson of the Coast to Coast Hoops Podcast to learn about handicapping the NIT.

The first round is over. The tournament has just begun. NIT Stu reacts to the action so far and talks with Gene Henley of the Chattanooga Times Free Press about Tuesday's three-overtime thriller. 3:27 - NIT Stu says one nice thing about every winner and one mean thing about every loser. 26:05 - Gene Henley interview, talking Chattanooga Mocs basketball. 46:55 - NIT Stu breaks down the second round...

Listen in as NIT Stu fills out his 2025 NIT bracket.

Two years after their NIT opt-out shook college basketball's foundation, UNC is back in the mix. Tate Frazier from One Shining Podcast joins the show to talk about his Tar Heels: What's going right? What's going wrong? And if the NIT comes calling...will they say yes?

March is here, and Free Hoops has twice the interviews to help you get ready. First, Brenna Greene joins NIT Stu to talk WCC Tournament, where Saint Mary's is trying to sweep Gonzaga and Gonzaga's trying to sweep Portland. Then, Matt Cox sits down to talk Indiana: What went wrong for Mike Woodson, what comes next in Bloomington, and whether this could be the Hoosiers' year to cut down the nets at...

College basketball icon Ken Pomeroy joins the show, talking everything from the 1995 NIT to Wyoming high school football.

Texas alum and recent beat writer Keenan Womack joins the program to talk Longhorns: What's going wrong; what's going right; and what the future holds, with or without Rodney Terry.

We speak with YouTuber and social media star Cole Adams about #LockedInMarch, Dick Vitale's lesson for us all, and whether the NIT would need military force to annex the First Four.

Freelance broadcaster Jake Marsh joins the program to talk about the world of play-by-play, leaving Pardon My Take, Syracuse's downturn, and—of course—the National Invitation Tournament.

The guys from 3 Bid League join NIT Stu to talk Atlantic 10 basketball and its close cousin, the NIT. Apologies for NIT Stu forgetting to plug in his microphone. No apologies for the dog who barks in the middle of the episode.

Free Hoops: The only NIT podcast you don't have to pay for. First episode coming January 28th.