NIT Tournament 2015: Bracket, Schedule and Semifinals Predictions

With the NCAA tournament on a break until next weekend, you'll need a way to fill your basketball fix during the week. Look no further than the NIT semifinals on Tuesday.

Below, you'll find the schedule, viewing info and a preview of the action.

Schedule

Time (ET)	Matchup	TV	Prediction
7 p.m.	No. 2 Miami vs. No. Temple	ESPN	Temple
9 p.m.	No. 2 Stanford vs No. 1 Old Dominion	ESPN	Old Dominion

For the full bracket, check out NCAA.com. 

Preview

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Are you ready for chalk? Because the NIT final is going to be a chalky affair. 

No. 1 seed Temple is a good basketball team. They've beaten Kansas, Cincinnati and UConn twice this season. They've won 14 of their last 17 games. They just smoked a good Louisiana Tech team.

And then there's Will Cummings, who has scored 15 or more points in 10 of his last 14 games and has posted 15, 21 and 30 points in Temple's three NIT games. The Owls are a good rebounding team and a solid defensive squad as well, but when Cummings gets hot, the Owls are truly tough to beat.

"I think I made a statement that we're going to win the NIT, and that's kind of where I've been focused," Cummings told The Associated Press, via ESPN, after leading Temple past Louisiana Tech. "I haven't gone into any game thinking that it's going to be my last."

Had the selection committee respected the American Athletic Conference a bit more this season, the Owls would have been dancing. 

Of course, Miami is no pushover. The Hurricanes have wins over Duke, NC State and Syracuse and took Virginia to double overtime. The Canes are a balanced squad, and Tonye Jekiri is a beast down low. The Canes won't make things easy on Temple.

But the Owls look like a team on a mission as they've rolled through the NIT. Cummings and company aren't going to be denied a trip to the final. 

And then there's Old Dominion against Stanford. Old Dominion just held Murray State—a team that averaged 79.1 points per game, 11th in the nation—to 69 points. Murray State scored fewer than 70 points just 10 times this season, but Old Dominion's defense is very, very good. 

Jason Hirschfeld/Associated Press

In fact, the Monarchs are holding teams to just 56.8 points per game, eighth in the nation. So Stanford isn't going to find the going easy on the offensive end. 

But Old Dominion also has a player in Trey Freeman who can take over a game. He certainly has a taste for the clutch as well, as his three-pointer at the buzzer knocked Murray State out of the NIT. Freeman has been battling ankle issues this postseason but, as Sonny Dearth of DailyPress.com noted, he came to play against Murray State:

Indeed, after posting 25 points and adding four assists, his ankle didn't seem to be a concern.

Stanford won't back down, though. Chasson Randle can really fill it up—he put 35 on Rhode Island—and Anthony Brown proved he can step in and be the go-to guy as well after posting 26 points, eight rebounds and four assists against Vanderbilt. 

Add in Stefan Nastic, another senior, and Stanford has a trio that makes the team a tough out. But Old Dominion's defense is capable of stifling them and will do just that, eking out another close win in the process.