NIT 2016: Time, TV schedule and live stream for Tuesday

It was a harrowing 48 hours without college basketball, but we made it through. Thankfully, the First Four and the opening round of the NIT have jammed enough action into Tuesday night to keep even the most ardent hoops fan from going into withdrawal.

Florida State, South Carolina, Ohio State, Alabama, and Florida will all be in action March 15 as part of an NIT lineup that looks more like a preseason college football ballot than a postseason basketball tournament. The Seminoles will take on Steph Curry’s alma mater when they host Davidson, while the Gamecocks get an easier draw against a High Point team that lost all three games it had against Power 5 opponents this winter. Ohio State will round out the early games with an in-state showdown with MAC runner-up Akron.

Alabama and Florida will kick off the second set of games against Creighton and North Florida, respectively. The Gators are a No. 2 seed in the tournament, but they’ll still have to travel up to Jacksonville to play on UNF’s home turf thanks to a scheduling conflict back in Gainesville. Another notable NCAA Tournament snub, Valparaiso, will also be in action on Tuesday. The Crusaders draw Texas Southern in their quest to prove the Selection Committee wrong.

After years of waiting and thousands of hypothetical arguments, we’ll finally get to see who wins a battle between a Mastodon and an Aztec. Indiana-Pudue Fort Wayne and San Diego State will tip off in California at 10 p.m. Finally, in the late game, WAC Player of the Year Pascal Siakam (20.3 points, 11.6 rebounds per game) will lead New Mexico State northwest to California for a showdown with a Saint Mary’s team that saw its bubble burst on Sunday.