NIT Tournament 2015: Bracket and Schedule for Semifinals in New York

The madness known as the NIT next takes Madison Square Garden by storm. 

It looks tame on the surface—No. 1 seeds will collide with No. 2 seeds in the semifinals for the right to move on to the finals in New York.

Yet, the action has been anything but tame so far in what most consider a secondary tournament. Their loss, as this year's bracket has provided unprecedented upsets, notable individual performances and down-to-the-wire contests befit of the Big Dance itself.

The NIT is on a brief hiatus, but there's no time like the present to take a deep dive into the semifinals. 

NIT Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup
March 31	7 p.m.	No. 1 Temple vs. No. 2 Miami (Fla.)
March 31	9 p.m.	No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 1 Old Dominion

Printable NIT bracket is also available on NCAA.com.

No. 1 Temple vs. No. 2 Miami (Fla.)

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

It's easy to fall in love with Temple and move on to the next matchup. 

Sitting 34th in ESPN's RPI rankings, the Owls took care of business against Bucknell to start the tournament, blew away fifth-seeded George Washington and laughed third-seeded Louisiana Tech out of the building, 77-59.

There doesn't seem to be any stopping this Owls team, even more so when senior Will Cummings is scoring 30, 21 and 15 points over the course of those three contests.

Yet here is Miami, one of the hottest teams nobody is paying attention to right now.

Ranked 62nd in RPI, the Hurricanes continue to find ways to win. They took care of business against seventh and sixth seeds before upending top seed Richmond, 63-61. There, the Hurricanes bullied the Spiders on the boards 47-32 to squeak out the win.

Miami's recipe to success? Building for the future in the present. Junior center Tonye Jekiri broke it down for Matt Porter of the Palm Beach Post:

"

Coming into the NIT, we all had some guys who were like ‘No, I don’t want to play.' Some of the guys were like, ‘I’m not feeling it.’

But coming into the second day of practice, Coach L talked to us a few times, saying, ‘I know you guys don’t want to play, but I’m telling you, it’s a good experience. Teams who play the NIT, the following year they’ve done great and gone to the NCAA tournament.’

"

Is hope for the future enough for the Hurricanes to down another top seed?

It's hard to argue against the notion. There's a reason the advanced metrics at KenPom.com ranked the Hurricanes above Richmond in the overall department and also rank them above Temple.

As those numbers show, the Owls rank among the 20 best teams in adjusted defensive efficiency, but Miami ranks 43rd in adjusted offense. If Miami can get out and run at its pace, Cummings on his own won't be enough to keep up.

Prediction: Miami 67, Temple 65

No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 1 Old Dominion

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

The Stanford Cardinal, ranked 61st in RPI, just managed to contain an on-fire Vanderbilt team to advance to the semifinals.

The Commodores dropped 92 points in a game before meeting the Cardinal. Yet Stanford forced them to shoot just 40.4 percent from the field and won the battle on the glass, 36-29, en route to the 78-75 victory.

It's par for the course for Stanford, which blew past UC Davis and Rhode Island in the first two rounds.

Team	ADJ OFF	ADJ DEF
Stanford	29	99
Old Dominion	129	35

Old Dominion, 45th in RPI, also knows a thing or two about strong defensive performances, as the efficiency ratings from Kenpom.com showcase.

The Monarchs held both of their first two opponents, Charleston Southern and Illinois State, to 56 points or less. They then went out and shut down an explosive Murray State team, forcing the Racers to shoot 37.7 percent from the field before a buzzer-beater sent them to the next round.

It makes for an interesting chess match, albeit one seeming to favor the Cardinal in a big way.

Even in a plodding, methodical matchup, the Monarchs will struggle to contain Stanford senior guard Chasson Randle, who refuses to let his collegiate career come to an end. He's scored 18, 35 and 16 points so far in the bracket.

Combine Randle's current form with Stanford's size and athleticism advantage and the Cardinal figure to live and fight another day.

Prediction: Stanford 60, Old Dominion 57

Stats and info are courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.