When Virginia lost to Delaware last week, that eliminated the ACC's sole entrant in this year's invitation-only NIT Season Tip-Off.
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NIT PICKS |
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| Season | Team | Reached |
| 2010 | Duke | Title* |
| 2006 | Duke | Title |
| 2005 | Wake Forest | Final |
| 2004 | Georgia Tech | Title$ |
| 2003 | North Carolina | Title |
| 2002 | Wake Forest | Final |
| 2001 | Duke | Title* |
| 1999 | North Carolina | Title |
| 1998 | Florida State | Final |
| 1997 | Duke | Final |
| 1992 | Georgia Tech | Final |
| 1986 | Duke | Title$ |
| * Won NCAA championship. $ Reached Final Four. |
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The tournament itself has existed under various names since the 1985-86 season, adopting its current identity after the pre- and post-season NIT were purchased in 2005 by the NCAA.
ACC teams have won the early NIT title seven times in the event's 28 years. This was the second season in the past three in which no ACC squad advanced to the semifinals in New York. Last year Virginia Tech got that far, only to lose to Syracuse, the Tip-Off's eventual champion.
A dozen ACC squads reached the finals since Duke won the initial preseason NIT in November 1985, a 43 percent success rate. The height of ACC dominance came during the decade between 1997 through 2006, when the league placed nine teams in the finals within a 10-year span.
The only conference coaches to make repeat visits to the event's title game were Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (1986, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2010) and Wake's Skip Prosser (2002, 2005).