CBI 2015: Tournament Bracket, Schedule, Format and Teams to Watch

Look past the NCAA tournament madness and the hand-wringing over whether or not the NIT is a significant competition or an overhyped consolation prize, and one can find another hoops tournament on the horizon.

Yes, fans looking to fill out another bracket can take a look at the 16-team College Basketball Invitational (CBI). The nascent invitational is still up-and-running as part of the alphabet soup of college basketball tourneys.

This year marks the eighth edition of CBI. While some may question the merit of a school participating in an oft-ignored competition, at the very least, the CBI provides a chance for overlooked or hard-luck squads to give their departing seniors a postseason send-off.

The CBI selection committee had to mine the depths of the college basketball landscape in order to come up with this year's field. Five squads—Vermont, Mercer, Radford, Delaware State and Oral Roberts—are ranked lower than 150th in the NCAA's Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) heading into the tournament. 

Colorado is the lone school from a major conference. The Buffaloes finished with a 15-17 overall record, including a 7-11 mark in Pac-12 play.

Past champions of the CBI include Siena (2014), Oregon (2011) and Virginia Commonwealth (2010). Here's a look at the essential info for the CBI, followed by a quick look at two teams to keep an eye on on this tournament.


Bracket

A printable version of the bracket can be found here.

Schedule and 1st-Round Matchups

Date	Matchup	Location	Time (ET)	TV
First Round
March 17	Rider at Loyola Chicago	Chicago, Ill.	8 p.m.
March 18	Vermont at Hofstra	Hempstead, N.Y.	7 p.m.
March 18	Stony Brook at Mercer	Macon, Ga.	7 p.m.
March 18	Radford at Delaware State	Dover, Del.	8 p.m.
March 18	Gardner-Webb at Colorado	Boulder, Colo.	9 p.m.
March 18	Pepperdine at Seattle	Seattle, Wash.	TBD
March 18	Eastern Michigan at Louisiana Monroe	Monroe, La.	TBD
March 18	UC-Santa Barbara at Oral Roberts	Tulsa, Okla.	TBD
Quarterfinals
March 23	TBD	TBD	TBD
Semifinals
March 25	TBD	TBD	TBD
Championship Series
March 30	Game 1	TBD	TBD	CBS Sports Network
April 1	Game 2			CBS Sports Network
April 3 (if necessary)	Game 3			CBS Sports Network

Format

Sixteen teams take part in a single-elimination bracket until there are just two left in the tournament. The championship game is instead a championship round, a best-of-three series to decide the winner of the CBI.

A key difference from the other college basketball postseason tournaments is the lack of seedings. The tournament will rearrange the bracket after the quarterfinals stage.

Like the NIT, the CBI will also serve as a basketball laboratory of sorts. Both tournaments will utilize a 30-second shot clock instead of the normal 35-second clock. According to the Associated Press (h/t USA Today), the change is "to assist the NCAA in research on pace of play and scoring."



Teams to Watch

UC-Santa Barbara (19-13, 11-5 Big West)

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Alan "Big Al" Williams isn't the only reason to keep an eye on Santa Barbara in this tournament, but he's certainly the most compelling.

The 6'8", 265-pound senior forward has put together a remarkable college career, capping it with a season in which he's averaged 17.2 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, the latter good enough for third in the nation amongst Division I players.

His preternatural instincts for the the way the ball caroms off the rind and his dazzling array of post moves, including a nifty jump hook, have made him a delight to watch for those who have been able to catch his games.

The Gauchos fell to UC-Irvine in the semifinals of the Big West Tournament, ending any hopes of chance at the Big Dance and an automatic bid.

A rough start to the season—5-7 to be exact, although that run did include close overtime losses to the likes of Florida Gulf Coast, SMU and Oregon—and the relative stature of their conference kept them out of NIT consideration as well. Still, the disappointment of not making the Big Dance or the NIT did not deter the squad from soldiering on, per head coach Bob Williams, via UCSBGauchos.com:

"

I left it up to our guys and they feel strongly about continuing to play.Friday night was tough, but in the end our guys are very competitive and they want to keep playing. I'm happy, and proud, about that. This is one of the best group of guys I've ever had and I look forward to coaching them for another game, and hopefully, several more games.

"

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Williams is one of two seniors on this year's squad (the other is fleet-footed point guard Zalmico Harmon). UC-Santa Barbara is in a good spot to end the season on a positive note and provide the seniors with a nice send-off.

The Gauchos are the top-ranked team in terms of the RPI, coming in at 87th in the nation. Look for Big Al and standout junior guards Michael Bryson (14.0 PPG) and John Green (11.1 PPG, 4.1 RPG) to make a possible championship run in this tournament.


Stony Brook (23-11, 12-4 America East)

The Stony Brook players were mere seconds away from playing in the Big Dance for the first time, but Albany's Peter Hooley drained a three-pointer with 1.6 seconds remaining in the America East Conference championship game to lift the Great Danes to a 51-50 win over the Seawolves.

With no chance at an at-large bid, Stony Brook has thus fallen to the CBI. The loss to Albany was certainly a tough outcome to choke down, but at least Stony Brook can take heart in knowing their rivals will likely be crushed by Oklahoma in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Seawolves, meanwhile, have a chance to go out with a few feel-good wins at the end of their 2014-15 campaign.

Prior to the Albany disaster, Stony Brook had won eight straight games by an average margin of 11.6 points.
The team boasts imposing junior forward Jameel Warney, who averaged 16.1 points and 11.6 rebounds per game this season.

His game is complimented on the perimeter by junior guard Carson Puriefoy, who was responsible for 23 of his teams 50 points against Albany, while still managing to pull down six boards and notch two steals.

The Seawolves can also look forward to a potential late-tournament matchup against fellow America East squad Vermont, whom they split the season series with at 1-1.

Look for this snakebitten squad to find an antidote to the late-season woes in this year's CBI.