NCAA mid-season invite season is upon us.
As some of the top-tier schools have started to battle head-to-head in dual meets as the season has moved forward, we’ll now get a good glimpse of where both teams and individuals are at during the mid-season invitationals which will primarily take place on the November 18-20 weekend. After a week off for Thanksgiving, the last few meets will trickle in on the first weekend of December.
On the men’s side of things, the top 10 schools from last season’s NCAA Championships will be spread out across seven different invites, with #1 Texas and #2 Cal notably going head-to-head at the Minnesota Invite.
Florida and Georgia will both be in action at the Georgia Tech Invite, and Big Ten foes Indiana and OSU will battle at the Ohio State Invitational. Louisville will head to Purdue, the Wolfpack will host the NC State/GAC Invitational, UVA will head over to Tennessee, and Texas A&M will host the Art Adamson Invite.
The top 10 teams from 2021 on the women’s side will be a little bit more condensed, spread out across five different meets.
The top-ranked head-to-head matchup will come at the Minnesota Invite with #3 Texas, #4 Cal and #6 Michigan all in attendance. The defending champs from UVA will take on #5 Alabama and the #10 host Vols at the Tennessee Invite, and #2 NC State will host the 2019 NCAA champion Stanford Cardinal at the Wolfpack Invite.
Note: Any invites listed with “TBD” under teams competing indicates we’ve reached out to the host school and are awaiting confirmation on which teams will be in attendance.
Week 1 (Nov. 17-20)
Mizzou Invite
- Dates: November 17-19, 2021
- Host: University of Missouri
- Location: Columbia, Mo.
- Teams Competing: Mizzou, Cal Baptist, Wyoming, Missouri S&T (men only), Nebraska (women only), San Jose State (women only)
- Diving Teams (only) Competing: Air Force, Iowa State, Northern Iowa, BYU, Kansas
Art Adamson Invitational
- Dates: November 17-19, 2021
- Host: Texas A&M University
- Location: College Station, Tx.
- Teams Competing: Texas A&M, USC, LSU, TCU, Nevada (women only), Air Force (men only)
Tennessee Invitational
- Dates: November 18-20, 2021
- Host: University of Tennessee
- Location: Knoxville, Tenn.
- Teams Competing: Tennessee, Virginia, Alabama, South Carolina, UNLV, Carson Newman
Ohio State Fall Invitational
- Dates: November 18-20, 2021
- Host: Ohio State University
- Location: Columbus, Ohio
- Teams Competing: Ohio State, Indiana, Kentucky, Pitt, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, UCLA (women), Navy (women)
NC State/GAC Invitational
- Dates: November 18-20, 2021
- Host: NC State University
- Location: Greensboro, N.C.
- Teams Competing: NC State, Stanford, UNC, Duke, Army, Arizona State, Penn State
Purdue Invite
- Dates: November 18-20, 2021
- Host: Purdue University
- Location: West Lafayette, Indiana
- Teams Competing: Purdue, Louisville, Northwestern, Missouri State, McKendree, FIU (women only), Illinois State (women only), Navy (men only)
Georgia Tech Invite
- Dates: November 18-20, 2021
- Host: Georgia Tech University
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia
- Teams Competing: Georgia Tech, Florida, Georgia, Florida State, Auburn
- Diving Teams Competing:
WVU Invitational
- Dates: November 18-20, 2021
- Host: West Virginia University
- Location: Morgantown, West Virginia
- Teams Competing: West Virginia, Colgate, Old Dominion, St. Bonaventure, Villanova, William & Mary
Eagle Invitational (Women Only)
- Dates: November 18-20, 2021
- Host: Florida Gulf Coast University
- Location: Fort Myers, Floria
- Teams Competing: Florida Gulf Coast, North Florida, Georgia Southern
Miami Invite
- Dates: November 18-20, 2021
- Host: University of Miami
- Location: Miami, Florida
- Teams Competing: Miami (FL), Vanderbilt, Iowa
Texas Diving Invitational
- Dates: November 18-20, 2021
- Host: University of Texas
- Location: Austin, Texas
- Teams Competing: Texas, Texas A&M, Stanford, Utah, Arizona, LSU
House of Champions
- Dates: November 18-20, 2021
- Host: IUPUI
- Location: Indianapolis, Ind.
- Teams Competing: IUPUI, UIndy, Lewis, Milwaukee, UIC, Green Bay, Ball State, Butler, Illinois
Dixie State Trailblazer Invitational
- November 18-20, 2021
- Host: Dixie State University
- Location: St. George, Utah
- Teams Competing: BYU, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, CSU Bakersfield, Dixie State (women), New Mexico State (women), Loyola Marymount (women), Pepperdine (women), Northern Colorado (women), UC Davis (women), Cal State East Bay (women)
Patriot Invitational
- Dates: November 18-20, 2021
- Host: George Mason University
- Location: Fairfax, Virginia
- Teams Competing: George Mason, American, Delaware, Florida Atlantic, Richmond, Seton Hall
Phill Hansel Invitational
- Dates: November 18-20, 2021
- Host: University of Houston
- Location: Houston, Texas
- Teams Competing: Houston, Colorado State, San Diego State, Air Force, Tulane, New Mexico, Washington State (swimming only), Rice (swimming only), North Texas (diving only)
Terrier Invitational
- Dates: November 19-21, 2021
- Host: Boston University
- Location: Boston, Mass.
- Teams Competing: TBD
Bucknell Invitational
- Dates: November 19-21, 2021
- Host: Bucknell University
- Location: Lewisburg, Pa.
- Teams Competing: Bucknell, Davidson, Fordham, LaSalle, Towson, UConn (women only), NJIT (men only)
Harold Anderson Invitational
- Dates: November 19-21, 2021
- Host: University of Rhode Island
- Location: Kingston, RI
- Teams Competing: Rhode Island, Maine, Holy Cross, Providence, Binghamton, Vermont, Roger Williams
Fall Frenzy
- Dates: November 19-21, 2021
- Host: Queens University of Charlotte
- Location: Charlotte, NC
- Teams Competing: Queens (NC), Wingate Gardner Webb, UNC Asheville, Pfeiffer, Emmanuel, Milligan, Lenoir Rhyne, Mars Hill, Converse
Week 2 (Dec. 1-4)
Minnesota Invitational
- Dates: December 1-4, 2021
- Host: University of Minnesota
- Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Teams Competing: Minnesota, Texas, Cal, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Harvard
Denison Invitational
- December 2-4, 2021
- Host: Denison University
- Location: Granville, Ohio
- Teams Competing: Denison, Emory, Washington University (St. Louis), Eastern Michigan
Miami (OH) Invitational
- December 2-4, 2021
- Host: Miami University (OH)
- Location: Oxford, Ohio
Wheaton Invitational
- Dates: December 3-4, 2021
- Host: Wheaton College
- Location: Wheaton, Illinois
- Teams Competing: Wheaton, Augustana, Olivet Nazarene, Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wisconsin-Whitewater, Washington
H2ounds Invitational
- Dates: December 3-4, 2021
- Host: Loyola University Maryland
- Location: Baltimore, Md.
- Teams Competing: Loyola, Marist, Iona, VMI, Howard
Big Al Invitational
- December 3-5, 2021
- Host: Princeton University
- Location: Princeton, New Jersey
- Teams Competing: TBD
ECAC Winter Championships
- Dates: December 3-5, 2021
- Host: Nassau County Aquatic Center
- Location: East Long Meadow, NY
- Teams Competing: UMBC, Fairfield
Zippy Invitational
- Dates: December 3-5, 2021
- Host: University of Akron
- Location: Akron, Ohio
- Teams Competing: TBD
Bruno Invite
- Dates: December 3-5, 2021
- Host: Brown University
- Location: Providence, RI
- Teams Competing: Johns Hopkins, NYU, New Hampshire (women)
Blue Devil Invite
- Dates: December 3-5, 2021
- Host: Central Connecticut State University
- Location: New Britain, Connecticut
- Teams Competing: CCSU, Siena, Stony Brook, Sacred Heart, St. Francis PA
Miami (OH) Invitational – Dec 2-4
Miami, Grand Canyon, Ashland, Youngstown St.
Phill Hansel Invite in Houston is Nov 18-20
Washington State, Air Force, Houston, University of New Mexico, Rice, San Diego State, Colorado State, Tulane
Navy women will compete at the OSU invite.
Fall Frenzy invite in Charlotte, NC! 7 men’s teams, 10 women’s teams.
Wingate, Queens, Gardner Webb, UNC Asheville, Pfeiffer, Emmanuel, Milligan, Lenoir Rhyne, Mars Hill, Converse
Missing Bucknell Invite, Harold Anderson, George Mason Patriot Invite, ECAC Winter Champs, Loyola H2ounds Invite, Akron Zippy Invite, Bruno Invite, and CCSU Blue Devil Invite off the top of my head
UCLA women to OH invite as well
A big question I always have for these invites is how teams choose. For example do coaches have an ideal level of competition they want to see rather than really going against all the best teams? The Stanford Women come to mind as I feel like they fluctuating between Art Adamson and the OSU invite, which had 1 maybe 2 good teams to compete against.
Coaches may also opt for slightly less competition if they want all of their swimmers making finals. Less teams means more chances for second swims.
I think some teams have to factor in the travel costs to the various options
Texas, Cal, and Michigan as the same invitational? 😮
they were all there at Minnesota in 2019, as well