CBI Tournament 2012: Bracket, Picks and Predictions for Entire Field

If your school or favorite team makes a disappointing early exit from the NCAA or NIT tournaments, then you should check out the College Basketball Invitational for some awesome basketball featuring some of the nation's most exciting teams.

With teams such as Butler and Pittsburgh participating in this year's event, there's certainly going to be some fun games to watch.

Let's look at a complete preview of the CBI tournament.

Schedule

The CBI tournament will run from March 13-20, and can be watched on HDNet. Below is a schedule for the upcoming matchups, for a full schedule click here.

DATE	FIRST ROUND	LOCATION	TIME (ET)	TV
3/13/12	Princeton @ Evansville	Evansville, Ind.	8 p.m.	HDNet
3/13/12	Washington State @ San Francisco	San Francisco	10 p.m.	HDNet
3/13/12	Milwaukee @ TCU	Fort Worth, Texas	8 p.m.
3/14/12	Delaware @ Butler	Indianapolis	8 p.m.	HDNet
3/14/12	Western Illinois @ Oregon State	Corvallis, Ore.	10 p.m.	HDNet
3/14/12	Wofford @ Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	7 p.m.
3/14/12	Quinnipiac @ Penn	Philadelphia	7:30 p.m.
3/14/12	North Dakota State @ Wyoming	Laramie, Wyo.	9 p.m.

DATE	QUARTERFINALS	LOCATION	TIME (ET)	TV
3/19/12	Game 1	TBD	TBD	TBD
3/19/12	Game 2	TBD	TBD	TBD
3/19/12	Game 3	TBD	TBD	TBD
3/19/12	Game 4	TBD	TBD	TBD

DATE	SEMIFINALS	LOCATION	TIME (ET)	TV
3/21/12	Game 1	TBD	TBD	HDNet
3/21/12	Game 2	TBD	TBD	HDNet

DATE	FINALS	LOCATION	TIME (ET)	TV
3/26/12	Game 1	TBD	TBD	HDNet
3/28/12	Game 2	TBD	TBD	HDNet
3/30/12	Game 3	TBD (If Necessary)	TBD	HDNet

Predictions and Picks

For a full, printable bracket for the CBI tournament, click here.

Now let's predict the outcome of every first-round game:

Princeton at Evansville: With their fundamentally strong offense and commitment to defense, expect Princeton to easily defeat Evansville in the first round.

Washington State at San Francisco: With a high-scoring offense and a team that shoots a high percentage from the floor, Sn Francisco will defeat a Washington State team that played poorly in a brutal Pac-12 Conference this season.

Milwaukee at TCU: Milwaukee's frontcourt depth will lead them to victory over a TCU team that struggled in the WAC this season and has lost four its last six games.

Delaware at Butler: Last year's runner-up in the NCAA tournament will have little trouble defeating a much less talented and experienced Delaware squad.

Western Illinois at Oregon State: After defeating Pac-12 regular-season champion Washington in the first round of the conference tournament, the Beavers will have the confidence needed to defeat an inferior Western Illinois team.

Wofford at Pittsburgh: Expect the Panthers to dominate Wofford with their superior athleticism and size in the frontcourt. Pittsburgh is well-coached and could easily win this tournament.

Quinnipiac at Penn: Expect the Quakers to defeat Quinnipiac in a close game that will be decided by Penn's spectacular defense.

North Dakota State at Wyoming: North Dakota State had the sixth-best field-goal percentage in America this season and that will be a big reason why its offense will be too much for Wyoming to handle.

Projected Champion: Pittsburgh

Head coach Jamie Dixon will motivate his players to perform well in this tournament after a disappointing Big East regular season cost them a chance to participate in March Madness again.

After defeating Georgetown and West Virginia earlier this season, the Panthers know they can beat anyone in this CBI field.

I expect Pittsburgh to end its season on a high note with a CBI championship.