CBI 2015: Schedule, Live Stream and Bracket Predictions for Quarterfinals

The 2015 College Basketball Invitational continues on toward the quarterfinals with Monday's slate, and tournament favorites are beginning to assert themselves.

While the NIT is reserved for many of the NCAA tournament snubs and other impressive teams primarily from power conferences, the CBI is built upon some of the nation's most notable mid-major programs battling it out. With only one team in the tournament field this year—Colorado—hailing from one of the six major conferences, that's the case again this postseason.

Another interesting wrinkle in the CBI is a three-game championship series, but the eight teams left standing are still two wins away from getting to that point.

March Madness encapsulates much of the sports world this time of year, but there's no NCAA tournament action on Monday—and thus, no reason to miss out on four exciting CBI quarterfinal affairs. Here's a brief look into Monday's slate.

2015 CBI Quarterfinals Schedule

Time (ET)	Matchup	Viewing Info	Prediction
7 p.m.	Radford at Vermont	-	Radford
7 p.m.	UL Monroe at Mercer	WatchESPN	Mercer
8 p.m.	Oral Roberts at Loyola (Chicago)	WatchESPN	Loyola
10 p.m.	Colorado at Seattle	-	Seattle

Live Stream: WatchESPN

Top Matchup: Colorado at Seattle

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

The Colorado Buffaloes are the only team from a major conference to appear in this year's CBI field, aiming to make something of a ninth-place Pac-12 finish and possibly end the season above .500. 

They improved to 16-17 on the year by slipping past Gardner-Webb 87-78 at home to begin play in the CBI, but they now have to hit the road and face Seattle for a spot in the semifinals.

Winning the CBI may not bring too much excitement around a program used to NCAA tournament appearances, but the experience may turn out to be invaluable for Colorado. At least, that's what head coach Tad Boyle said when his team accepted the bid, per B.G. Brooks of CUBuffs.com.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

"It doesn’t have to be (the point guard)," Boyle said of his team stepping up leadership-wise. "It can come from a guy on the bench…but here's what I know about our team: it’s available; it's there for the taking and it needs to be done. A lot of guys could be (leaders), but the question is, 'Who will be?'"

Of course, finding that leadership against a team like Seattle may prove difficult.

The Redhawks finished in the middle of the road in the Western Athletic Conference this season, but they are on somewhat of a hot streak. They have won six of their last eight, including a comprehensive 62-45 win over Pepperdine in the CBI round of 16.

That win marked Seattle's first postseason victory in generations, per the team's official Twitter, and it isn't done there.

Look for the Redhawks to make it two postseason victories Monday night at home.

Colorado enters the tournament desperately searching for continuity and leadership, and it's easy to see why. The Buffaloes finished the season 5-8, failing to stay afloat in a competitive Pac-12 Conference. Perhaps the most worrying aspect of all is that leading scorer Askia Booker is not even playing with the team this postseason as he focuses on a professional career, per The Associated Press (via CBS Denver). 

The Buffaloes had to side-step a pesky Gardner-Webb team in the first round, while Seattle won in impressive fashion against Pepperdine—a team that nearly beat Gonzaga during the regular season. It's not hard to figure out which of these teams is poised for a deep run in the CBI.

Prediction: Seattle 75, Colorado 70