NIT 2015: Complete Bracket, 1st-Round Schedule and Teams to Watch

NCAA tournament dreams are dead for all but 68 teams, but the 2015 postseason NIT has brought a chance for 32 teams to end the season on a high note.

Conference regular-season champions who didn't win their tournaments—usually reserved for mid-majors—get an automatic bid into the field, and the first four teams cut from the NCAA field get the top seeds. After seeing their bubbles burst, some teams will decide to mail in their seasons while others will come in with a chip on their shoulder.

One new wrinkle worth tuning in for is the testing of a 30-second shot clock, which will give college basketball the chance to experiment with the idea.

The Big Dance will dominate college basketball over the next handful of weeks, but the NIT will come into more and more focus as the tournament progresses and snubbed NCAA tournament teams make convincing statements. Here's a look at everything you need to know.

NIT Bracket

Full 2015 NIT bracket available at NCAA.com.

2015 NIT First-Round Schedule

Date	Matchup	Time (ET)
Tues., March 17	George Washington vs. Pittsburgh	7 p.m.
Tues., March 17	N.C. Central vs. Miami	7 p.m.
Tues., March 17	Iona vs. Rhode Island	7 p.m.
Tues., March 17	Central Michigan vs. Louisiana Tech	7:30 p.m.
Tues., March 17	William & Mary vs. Tulsa	8:15 p.m.
Tues., March 17	UTEP vs. Murray State	9 p.m.
Tues., March 17	Montana vs. Texas A&M	9 p.m.
Tues., March 17	Alabama vs. Illinois	9 p.m.
Tues., March 17	UC Davis vs. Stanford	11 p.m.
Wed., March 18	Bucknell vs. Temple	7 p.m.
Wed., March 18	Arizona State vs. Connecticut	7 p.m.
Wed., March 18	Charleston Southern vs. Old Dominion	7:15 p.m.
Wed., March 18	St. Francis Brooklyn vs. Richmond	7:30 p.m.
Wed., March 18	Green Bay vs. Illinois State	8 p.m.
Wed., March 18	Vanderbilt vs. St. Mary's	9 p.m.
Wed., March 18	South Dakota State vs. Colorado State	10 p.m.

Note: Schedule courtesy of NCAA.com.

Teams to Watch

Texas A&M

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The Texas A&M Aggies boasted a SEC record of 11-7 that was identical to three conference counterparts that made the Big Dance (LSU, Georgia, Ole Miss). But a late-season skid doomed Billy Kennedy's squad, and they'll begin the NIT as a No. 2 seed.

Texas A&M appeared on the verge of a turnaround season early on in SEC play when it took unbeaten Kentucky to two overtimes and gave the Wildcats perhaps their toughest test of the season. The six-game win streak that followed seemed to validate that, before they went 6-6 to close the season—including losing three of their last four.

Leading scorer Danuel House missing the season's last two games took a toll as well, but the Aggies have enough to stroll into Madison Square Garden whether he can go or not. Alex Caruso is a strong two-way player who can take over games, and Jalen Jones and Kourtney Roberson are a handful in the post.

Tuesday night's opening-round matchup with Montana is one to watch. The Grizzlies got to the doorstep of a NCAA bid before losing in the Big Sky final to Eastern Washington.

The Aggies could very well come into the tournament with their heads down after seeing their NCAA hopes slip away. But if they approach it like they want to be there, there won't be any stopping them from reaching New York.

Murray State

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The Murray State Racers didn't lose a single game from Nov. 29 until March 7, when a last-second Belmont shot knocked them out of the NCAA tournament. That's a span of 25 games, but it wasn't nearly enough to get the mid-majors an at-large invite.

After having their shot at the tournament taken away from them in surprise fashion, the Racers became a popular target for national media to plug for an at-large bid, like CBS Sports' Seth Davis:

Murray State won't get the chance to make noise in the NCAA tournament, but with the right mindset it could set fire to the NIT. Cameron Payne dominates opponents regularly with 20.3 points per game, and three other double-digit scorers help the Racers put up 79.1 points per game—11th in the nation, per ESPN.com.

A lack of impressive wins put the Racers out of the running for the field of 68, but CFSP Center is still sure to be loud Tuesday night against the UTEP Miners with a chance to advance as a No. 3 seed. It took a buzzer-beater for Murray State to lose its first game since November, and another stroke of magic may be needed to beat the Racers again.

Temple

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The feeling of despair is hitting many of the NIT's best teams hard following Selection Sunday, but none more so than the Temple Owls.

A consistent run to a third-place finish in the American Athletic Conference seemed to give the Owls an edge, especially with them finishing ahead of Cincinnati—who comfortably made the NCAA field. Even ESPN's Joe Lunardi predicted Temple in the field on his final predictions.

But the clock instead struck midnight on Temple's NCAA hopes, and now head coach Fran Dunphy is left picking up the pieces.

"It's an agonizing situation to wonder what's going to happen all throughout this day," Dunphy told The Associated Press, via ESPN.com. "Now the angst is over, the disappointment reigns, but hope is still out there that we can finish this season strong with another tournament."

It's hard to see No. 8 seed Bucknell toppling Temple in its opening-round affair, but top seeds come into the NIT underwhelmed all too often and suffer upsets to end their season. Only the Owls will be able to answer the question of how they will bounce back from the NCAA snub.