CBI Tournament 2015: Bracket, Picks and Predictions for Entire Field

Every team starts the college basketball season with dreams of cutting down the nets at the Final Four, but there is something to be said for competing for championships, regardless of the stage.

The 2015 CBI tournament may not bring the prestige of the NCAA tournament or the venue at Madison Square Garden of the NIT, but the teams competing in it certainly have their eyes on some March Madness of their own.

There are also some intriguing teams that cracked the field this year, which should set up some thrilling matchups. With that in mind, here is a look at the first-round schedule and predictions as well as a champion pick.

*A full CBI bracket can be found here, courtesy of GazelleGroup.com. Every round in the CBI is single-elimination until the championship series, which is a best-of-three matchup.

First-Round Schedule and Predictions

Date	Round	Matchup	Predicted Winner
March 17	First	Rider vs. Loyola Chicago	Loyola Chicago
March 18	First	UC Santa Barbara vs. Oral Roberts	UC Santa Barbara
March 18	First	Vermont vs. Hofstra	Vermont
March 18	First	Radford vs. Delaware State	Delaware State
March 18	First	Gardner-Webb vs. Colorado	Colorado
March 18	First	Pepperdine vs. Seattle	Pepperdine
March 18	First	Stony Brook vs. Mercer	Stony Brook
March 18	First	Eastern Michigan vs. Louisiana Monroe	Eastern Michigan
March 23	Quarterfinals	Rider/Loyola Chicago winner vs. UC Santa Barbara/Oral Roberts winner
March 23	Quarterfinals	Vermont/Hofstra winner vs. Radford/Delaware State winner
March 23	Quarterfinals	Gardner-Webb/Colorado winner vs. Pepperdine/Seattle winner
March 23	Quarterfinals	Stony Brook/Mercer winner vs. Eastern Michigan/Louisiana Monroe winner
March 25	Semifinals	TBD
March 25	Semifinals	TBD
March 30, April 1 and April 3	Finals	TBD

Predicted Champion: Colorado

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Before discussing Colorado as a somewhat surprising champion given its 15-17 record, Brian Howell of the Boulder Daily Camera passed along an interesting update that doesn’t exactly help its chances heading into the CBI:

Clearly, not having a leading scorer would matter for any team in any tournament, regardless of the level of competition. Askia Booker is a talented player who averaged an impressive 17.2 points per game as the go-to guy in the Buffaloes offense who can hit from three-point range and attack the rim off the dribble.

However, Booker only shot 38.7 percent from the field, so he wasn’t exactly an efficient scorer. That was crystal clear when he shot 4-of-14 from the field against Oregon in Colorado’s loss in the Pac-12 tournament. With him out of the lineup, other players will have the opportunity to step up and share the ball and demonstrate what they have with a more balanced offense.

Josh Scott and Xavier Johnson will be the guys Colorado relies on to step up in the scoring department, and that is exactly what they will do.

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Scott checks in at 6’10” and is a physical force on the boards who averages 14 points, eight rebounds and 1.9 blocks a game. He was a difficult player to guard for a number of formidable Pac-12 teams, so it is easy to imagine what he will do against some of these potential CBI opponents from smaller conferences.

Scott poured in 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against Washington State in Colorado’s final regular-season game before the Pac-12 tournament. He missed some time with injury this season, but he appears to have shaken off any rust. He commented on his health earlier in the season, via Howell:

"

It's nice to be healthy. I have a newfound sense of loving for my health. I would not want to put up with back issues (in the long term). It's miserable. No sleep, pain walking, pain sitting down, pain moving. It's just no fun.

"

As for Johnson, he is a matchup nightmare at 6’7” who can hit from the outside and attack the lane if a bigger defender comes out on him.

It is not just about the Scott and Johnson matchup, though.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Colorado is simply more battle-tested than the majority of the teams in the CBI given that it plays in the Pac-12 Conference with the likes of Arizona, Oregon and more. This is a Buffaloes squad that only lost by two against Colorado State, knocked off UCLA and hung with Oregon in the Pac-12 tournament before losing by eight points.

The vast difference in the level of competition between the Pac-12 and what Colorado sees in the CBI is going to be a problem for the rest of the field. 

The Buffaloes played a more difficult schedule than their competitors and still have a scoring duo that will take care of business in this tournament. They are going to take home the championship even without Booker.

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