Cincinnati Bearcats and Xavier Musketeers haven't played in the same NIT since 1957

The Cincinnati Bearcats will seek the Big 12's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and the Xavier Musketeers will look to win the Big East tournament to secure their conference's automatic bid.

But it's looking more likely that an at-large bid won't be available for either team. So if neither team wins its conference tournament, it would be the third time in four years that UC and XU fail to reach the Big Dance.

Both teams could be National Invitation Tournament candidates if they come up short, and both have enjoyed recent NIT success, with UC winning two games to reach the quarterfinals last year, and XU defeating Texas A&M to win the 2022 NIT.

Xavier has played in the NIT nine times. And UC has played in 11 NITs. But the only year in which both schools played in the same NIT was 1957, with UC losing to St. Bonaventure in the first round and XU falling to Bradley in the quarterfinals.

The Muskies won the NIT the following year, in 1958. UC has not won an NIT, but won the NCAA tourney in 1961 and 1962.

Indianapolis will host the 2024 NIT semifinals and finals.

The NIT is scheduled to feature a 32-team field as it has in years past, with the first round, second round and quarterfinals played at campus sites.

With three wins in the NIT, neither Cincinnati nor Xavier would have to go far to play in the tournament's semifinals and finals.

Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse is scheduled to host the semifinals and finals, April 2 and 4. Las Vegas was last year's host.

XU's second-to-last regular-season game also will be played at Hinkle, against the Bulldogs.

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati, Xavier haven't played in same NIT since 1957