While the 2015 NCAA Tournament continues its "Second Round," the 2015 NIT's true second round begins on Friday — and with the round's best matchup.
NIT 2015 schedule and bracket: Is Vanderbilt the favorite now?
You thought the NCAA Tournament was the only thing going on Friday? You were wrong!
Just four upsets by seed happened in the NIT’s 16 first-round games, but two of them set up No. 8 seed South Dakota State traveling to meet No. 5 seed Vanderbilt. The Jackrabbits knocked off No. 1 seed Colorado State in Fort Collins on Wednesday, and now travel to Nashville to take on the best team left in the NIT, according to Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency-based rankings.
But it’s actually Vanderbilt that’s traveled farther for this game: The Commodores beat Saint Mary’s by a 75-64 count on Wednesday in California, and had to fly farther to come back home than South Dakota State did to make it to Tennessee.
And by virtue of that win, Vanderbilt leap-frogged Florida to become the best team in college basketball not in the NCAA Tournament, according to Ken Pomeroy’s ratings. The Commodores check in as the NIT’s only team in the KenPom top 40 ... meaning that the favorite to win the title might well be the team playing on Friday night, just 48 hours after a cross-country flight.
The NIT is great.
Elsewhere in the second round, which runs from Friday through Monday, Alabama will visit Miami in a rematch of one of the best football games of the 1992 season, Georgia Washington visits former Atlantic 10 foe Temple, Louisiana Tech visits Texas A&M (a school that might eventually target Bulldogs coach Mike White), and mid-majors square off as Murray State travels to Tulsa.
Here’s the full updated NIT bracket.
Second round (March 20-23)
Friday, March 20
No. 8 South Dakota State at No. 5 Vanderbilt
Saturday, March 21
No. 6 Alabama at No. 2 Miami (FL)
Sunday, March 22
No. 5 George Washington at No. 1 Temple
No. 5 Arizona State at No. 1 Richmond
No. 3 Rhode Island at No. 2 Stanford
Monday, March 23
No. 3 Louisiana Tech at No. 2 Texas A&M
No. 4 Illinois State at No. 1 Old Dominion
No. 3 Murray State at No. 2 Tulsa
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