NIT 2013: Complete Guide to This Year's Tournament

Defending national champion Kentucky is a No. 1 seed at that NIT. While it's always nice to be a No. 1 seed, Kentucky would prefer to be playing in the NCAA tournament. 

That's not all wrecking this moment for Kentucky either. 

Up through the quarterfinals at the NIT, the higher seed will be hosting the game...unless that higher seed is Kentucky. 

The Wildcats' home, Rupp Arena, is going to be in use for the NCAA tournament.

As a result, the Wildcats will be hitting the road for their game as they travel to Pittsburgh to take on Robert Morris. 

Maybe this will actually help motivate the Wildcats?

While Kentucky has almost an entirely different roster from last season, this squad had their sights set on higher goals than the NIT, and it is only natural that the disappointment will lead to at least some apathy. 

Here's a look at some of the vitals, followed by the continued rundown of this fun tournament. 

Bracket: Check out the complete NIT bracket at NCAA.com

Watch: All NIT games will be broadcast on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3

Live Stream: All Games on ESPN3.com or WatchESPN

Dates

First Round: March 19 and 20

Second Round: March 21 to March 25

Quarterfinals: March 26 and 27

Semifinals: April 2

Finals: April 4

First Round Schedule

Tuesday, March 19

*All times ET

Niagara (19-13) at Maryland (22-12), 7 p.m.

St. John's (16-15) at Saint Joseph's (18-13), 7 p.m.

Louisiana Tech (26-6) at  Florida State (18-15), 7:15 p.m.

Kentucky (21-11) at Robert Morris (23-10), 7:30 p.m.

Northeastern (20-12) at Alabama (21-12), 9 p.m.

Norfolk State (21-11) at Virginia (21-11), 9 p.m.

Ohio (24-9) at Denver (21-9), 9:15 p.m.

Washington (18-15) at BYU (21-11), 9:30 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin (27-4) at Stanford (18-14), 11 p.m.

Wednesday, March 20

Indiana State (18-14) at Iowa (21-12), 7 p.m.

Charlotte (21-11) at Providence (17-14), 7;15 p.m.

Stony Brook (24-7) at Massachusetts (21-11), 7:15 p.m.

Mercer (23-11) at Tennessee (20-12), 8 p.m.

Long Beach State (19-13) at Baylor (18-14), 9 p.m.

Charleston Southern (19-12) at Southern Mississippi (25-9), 9:15 p.m.

Detroit (20-12) at Arizona State (21-12), 10 p.m.

2013 NIT Rundown

The NIT checks in at a tidy 32 teams. This has the possibility for an upset on high for any matchup right from the start.

Granted, the home-court advantage, except for Kentucky, helps guard against that upset potential. However, this has done little to help the chalk advance. 

Last year, the Washington Huskies were the only No. 1 seed to make it to at least the quarterfinals, and fellow No. 1 Arizona fell in the first round. 

The Huskies, who eventually made it to the semifinals last year, are back. They are the No. 6 seed in the bracket where Southern Miss is the No. 1 seed. 

Joining Southern Miss and Kentucky as top seeds are Alabama and Virginia. 

While Alabama has the favorable No. 1 seed, they certainly didn't get an easy draw. They are lined up for a second-round matchup with 2012 NIT champion Stanford.

In all, there are seven teams in this year's NIT that participated last year. That includes three of the four semifinalists, as Massachusetts joins Stanford and Washington in that club. 

The NIT may not contain the highly visible one shining moment that the NCAA tournament has to offer, but there is a bunch of good basketball and great games.