Miami vs. Stanford 2015, NIT Championship: Time, TV schedule and preview

The Miami Hurricanes and Stanford Cardinal meet Thursday night in Madison Square Garden for the NIT championship. Stanford is seeking its third NIT title, while Miami has never advanced beyond the quarterfinals prior to this year.

Both teams are looking to make up for disappointing regular season runs. Stanford was once considered a lock for the NCAA Tournament, but the Cardinal stumbled down the stretch, finishing just 9-9 in conference play. Despite its struggles, Stanford still boasts a potent attack, ranking 29th in the country in KenPom's adjusted offense. The Cardinal are led by senior guard Chasson Randle, who averaged 19.4 points and 3.0 assists per game in 2014-15. Randle dominated Old Dominion in the semifinals, scoring 24 points on 6-of-14 shooting and draining a trio of three-pointers in a 67-60 win over the Monarchs.

The Hurricanes were another tournament bubble team that came up short on Selection Sunday. Despite impressive wins over Duke and NC State, Miami failed to pick up enough signature victories while non-conference losses to the likes of Green Bay and Eastern Kentucky also hurt its cause. Still, the Hurricanes are a solid all-around team, ranking 46th in adjusted offense and 85th in adjusted defense per KenPom. The concern, as always, is the health of Angel Rodriguez. The junior guard missed the last three games with a wrist injury and his status for Saturday's game is still unknown. Miami will have to lean more on Sheldon McClellan, who had a double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) in the semifinal win over Temple.