The 72nd annual tournament began on March 17 on campus sites and ended on April 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, with Penn State winning the final 69–63 over Baylor.
Therefore, they were not awarded their respective conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
When they did not receive at-large selections to the NCAA tournament either, they automatically qualified for the 2009 NIT.
Played on the home court of the higher-seeded team (except #4 Miami (FL) at #5 Providence) Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 31 and April 2 * denotes each overtime played The Penn State Nittany Lions faced off against the Baylor Bears in the NIT Championship game.
The Nittany Lions won the matchup 69–63, aided by Jamelle Cornley's 18 points.