Saint Mary's had been hoping to make the NCAA Tournament, but the selection committee disagreed with the poll voters.
The Gaels, at 28-5, with a 16-2 mark in the West Coast Conference, holding a road win over Gonzaga and two victories against BYU, were passed over for the NCAAs despite holding on to the No. 25 spot in the AP poll after the regular season.
Instead, Saint Mary's will compete in its sixth NIT tournament in school history, opening as a No. 1 seed against No. 8 seed Southeastern Louisiana (22-11) on Tuesday night. The Gaels, who are 5-5 all-time in the NIT, competed in the postseason event in 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016.