NIT Tournament 2015: Bracket, schedule and scores
NCAA snubs, the reigning National Champions and a few automatic qualifiers make up the 2015 NIT field.
Once again, the NIT is upon us, and for 32 teams that just missed out on NCAA Tournament dreams, that means that chance to compete for a championship at the World's Most Famous Arena.
Click here for NCAA Tournament 2015 bracket, schedule and score updates throughout the tournament.
Former NCAA bubble teams like Temple, Colorado State, Miami and Murray State will set their sites on Madison Square Garden, home of the tournament’s final two rounds, while teams like Connecticut, Tulsa, Pittsburgh and Illinois try to disrupt the favorites.
The NIT field is made up of more than the traditional heavyweights and major conference contenders, however. Schools like Bucknell and South Dakota State, who won their conference regular season championships but faltered in their league tournaments, were also rewarded with bids. St. Francis-Brooklyn and William & Mary are two more of those schools, and are also part of the unfortunate group of original Division I teams to have never been invited to the Big Dance.
But however they got there, teams often treat the NIT as an opportunity: first to prove to the NCAA Selection Committee that it was worthy of playing in the NCAA Tournament, and secondly to use as a springboard to a bigger run next year. We saw that happen with SMU, which advanced to the NIT final last year and earned a 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament this season.
The format
The NIT is a 32-team single-elimination tournament that plays its first three rounds on campus sites. The field is split into four regions of teams seeded 1-8. In most cases, the lower seed hosts each game until the semifinals. The only first-round exception this year is No. 3 Illinois, which will travel to No. 6 Alabama due to a scheduling conflict in its home arena. As mentioned above, the semifinals and finals will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The teams
Upper Left Region
1. Temple Owls
2. Texas A&M Aggies
3. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
4. Pittsburgh Panthers
5. George Washington Colonials
6. Central Michigan Chippewas
7. Montana Grizzlies
8. Bucknell Bison
Lower Left Region
1. Richmond Spiders
2. Miami (FL.) Hurricanes
3. Illinois Fighting Illini
4. Connecticut Huskies
5. Arizona State Sun Devils
6. Alabama Crimson Tide
7. North Carolina Central Eagles
8. St. Francis-Brooklyn Terriers
Upper Right Region
1. Colorado State Rams
2. Stanford Cardinal
3. Rhode Island Rams
4. St. Mary's Gaels
5. Vanderbilt Commodores
6. Iona Gaels
7. UC Davis Aggies8. South Dakota State Jackrabbits
Lower Right Region
1. Old Dominion Monarchs
2. Tulsa Golden Hurricane
3. Murray State Racers
4. Illinois State Redbirds
5. Green Bay Phoenix
6. UTEP Miners
7. William & Mary Tribe
8. Charleston Southern Buccaneers
Bracket
Schedule and results (all times Eastern):
Tuesday, March 17
No. 3 Rhode Island 88, No. 6 Iona 75
No. 2 Miami (FL) 75, No. 7 North Carolina Central 71
No. 5 George Washington 60, No. 4 Pittsburgh 54
No. 3 Louisiana Tech 89, No. 6 Central Michigan 79
No. 2 Tulsa 70, No. 7 William & Mary 67
No. 6 Alabama 79, No. 3 Illinois 58
No. 3 Murray State 81, No. 6 UTEP 66
No. 2 Texas A&M 81, No. 7 Montana 64
No. 2 Stanford 77, No. 7 UC Davis 64
Wednesday, March 18
No. 5 Arizona State 68, No. 4 Connecticut 61
No. 1 Temple 73, Bucknell 67
No. 1 Old Dominion 65, Charleston Southern 56
No. 1 Richmond 84, No. 8 St. Francis-Brooklyn 74
No. 4 Illinois State 69, No. 5 Green Bay 56
No. 5 Vanderbilt 75, No. 4 St. Mary’s 64
No. 8 South Dakota State 86, No. 1 Colorado State 76
Second round
Friday, March 20
No. 5 Vanderbilt 92, No. 8 South Dakota State 77
Saturday, March 21
No. 2 Miami (FL) 73, No. 6 Alabama 66
Sunday, March 22
No. 1 Temple 90, No. 5 George Washington 77
No. 1 Richmond 76 No. 5 Arizona State 70 (OT)
No. 2 Stanford 74 No. 3 Rhode Island 65
Monday, March 23
No. 3 Louisiana Tech 84, No. 2 Texas A&M 72
No. 1 Old Dominion 50, No. 4 Illinois State 49
No. 3 Murray State 83, No. 2 Tulsa 62
Tuesday, March 24
No. 2 Miami 63, No. 1 Richmond 61
No. 2 Stanford 78, No. 5 Vanderbilt 75
Wednesday, March 25
No. 1 Old Dominion 72, No. 3 Murray State 69
No. 1 Temple 77, No. 3 Louisiana Tech 59
Tuesday, March 31 (Semifinals)
Madison Square Garden
Miami 60, Temple 57
Stanford 67, Old Dominion 60
Thursday, April 2 (Championship)
Madison Square Garden
Stanford 66, Miami 64 (F/OT)
SB Nation presents: This tournament should be a close one
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