NIT Tournament 2015: Full Bracket, Schedule and Top Championship Contenders

The NCAA tournament may receive most of the coverage over the next three weeks, but the NIT serves as a worthy consolation prize for some of the best squads to miss the 68-team cut.  Considering that most of these teams likely would have been bounced by the end of the March Madness' first weekend, potentially walking away with some postseason hardware is certainly nothing to scoff at.

Examining the 32-team field, tourney snubs like Colorado State and Temple will have a shot at redemption as top seeds, while unheralded mid-majors such as Murray State and Old Dominion could make deep runs and boost their program profiles.  

For basketball junkies seeking a fix during the NCAA mid-week break, here's a full look at the opening-round schedule, a bracket courtesy of NCAA.com and a deeper dive into the teams likeliest to be celebrating at Madison Square Garden.

Tuesday, March 17	Matchup	TV Info
Wednesday, March 18	Matchup	TV Info
7 p.m.	Rhode Island vs. Iona	ESPNU
7 p.m.	Miami (FL) vs. North Carolina Central	ESPN2
7 p.m.	Pittsburgh vs. George Washington	ESPN
7:30 p.m.	Louisiana Tech vs. Central Michigan	ESPN3
8:15 p.m.	Tulsa vs. William & Mary	ESPN3
9 p.m.	Illinois vs. Alabama	ESPN
9 p.m.	Murray State vs. UTEP	ESPN2
9 p.m.	Texas A&M vs. Montana	ESPNU
11 p.m.	Stanford vs. UC Davis	ESPN2
7 p.m.	Temple vs. Bucknell	ESPN3
7 p.m.	Connecticut vs. Arizona State	ESPN2
7:15 p.m.	Old Dominion vs. Charleston Southern	ESPN3
7:30 p.m.	Richmond vs. St. Francis	ESPN3
8 p.m.	Illinois State vs. Green Bay	ESPNU
9 p.m.	Saint Mary's vs. Vanderbilt	ESPN2
10 p.m.	Colorado State vs. South Dakota State	ESPNU

Top Contenders

Colorado State Rams (27-6)

David Becker/Getty Images

Arguably no snubbed team had a stronger NCAA case than Colorado State. The Rams finished third in the Mountain West and ended with a strong No. 28 RPI ranking, based on ESPN’s metrics. A conference tourney semifinal loss to San Diego State didn’t appear particularly harmful, especially considering that CSU had already beaten the Aztecs and Boise State, the conference’s two co-champs.

But Larry Eustachy’s club was left out in the cold, in large part due to a lack of quality nonconference competition. The six-loss Rams are likely on the same level as the bubble at-large squads who sneaked in, but their weak schedule underscored the toughest conflict the committee faces every year:

As a top seed in the NIT, the Rams may be the top favorite to win the tournament. CSU could face a difficult quarterfinal matchup against Stanford (more on that in a second), but they should also cruise against South Dakota State and either Vanderbilt or St. Mary’s.

Much like SMU last season, avoiding nonconference regular-season challenges did in Colorado State’s NCAA bid. It’s particularly painful considering that the Rams started 14-0 and were one of the last four remaining unbeaten in Division I. However, behind a deep veteran frontcourt, the Rams should still be playing deep into March.

Stanford Cardinal (19-13)

USA TODAY Sports

At first blush, a team that finished 9-9 in the painfully mediocre Pac-12 would seem like an easy squad to dismiss. However, Kenpom’s efficiency rankings pegged Stanford as the 48th-best team in the country, second-best in the field and indicative of a squad more talented than its regular-season performance would have suggested.

Apart from a Dec. 23 overtime win against Texas, the Cardinal don’t boast a particularly impressive resume. However, seven of their 13 losses this season have come by six points or fewer, while just four of their wins came by that margin. Better late-game performance likely would have sent Stanford dancing, but they simply fell on the wrong ledger of that close-game variability.

In a potential matchup against Colorado State, the Cardinal have the potential to stymie forward J.J. Avila, one of the Mountain West’s best players this season, with their own excellent wing in Anthony Brown. The 6’6” Brown was second on the team in scoring with 14.7 points per game and led Stanford with 7.0 boards per contest, but missed all-conference recognition while toiling away for a middling squad: 

Brown and volume-shooting guard Chasson Randle give the Cardinal a formidable one-two inside-outside punch. If they can get pull a slight upset against the Rams, Stanford could atone for a disappointing regular season with a deep NIT run.

Murray State Racers (27-5)

Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

Along with CSU, Murray State came within one win of the most victories by a non-tourney team in NCAA history. Like the Rams, the Racers were done in by a lack of signature victories, as their strength of schedule ranked 253rd in Division I.

Nevertheless, the Racers also went undefeated (16-0) in Ohio Valley play and were clearly the conference’s preeminent team the entire season. Knocking them out based on a shocking one-point title-game upset against Belmont, whom Murray State had trounced by 15 on Jan. 15, seems a little harsh. Indeed, some believe that the committee penalized the mid-major Racers in favor of some enigmatic (and likely mediocre) power-conference squads:

Moreover, after a 2-4 start, the Racers had won 25 in a row before the Belmont defeat. Considering that the committee has traditionally professed to favor teams peaking towards the postseason, it’s hard to understand why that standard didn’t necessarily apply to the Racers.

As a No. 3 seed in the NIT, Murray State will once again fly under the radar. The Racers received a relatively favorable draw, however, with Old Dominion and Tulsa as the higher seeds. That region is the only quarter without a single power-conference team, so Murray State figures to stand out as co-favorites with the Monarchs and Golden Hurricane.