NIT 2017: Bracket, Times, Dates, Live-Streaming and TV Schedule

While the focus for many college basketball fans Sunday was firmly on the announcement of the 68-team field for the NCAA tournament, the 2017 National Invitation Tournament unveiled the 32 teams that will be fighting for the championship in New York City.

Here's a look at the four regionals:

Matchup	Date	Time (ET)	TV Info
No. 1 California vs. No. 8 CSU Bakersfield	Tuesday, March 14	11:15 p.m.	ESPN2
No. 4 Colorado State vs. No. 5 Charleston	Tuesday, March 14	9 p.m.	ESPN3
No. 3 BYU vs. No. 6 UT-Arlington	Wednesday, March 15	9 p.m.	ESPN2
No. 2 Houston vs. No. 7 Akron	Wednesday, March 15	7:30 p.m.	ESPNU

Matchup	Date	Time (ET)	TV Info
No. 1 Syracuse vs. No. 8 UNC-Greensboro	Tuesday, March 14	7 p.m.	ESPN
No. 4 Monmouth vs. No. 5 Ole Miss	Tuesday, March 14	7 p.m.	ESPN3
No. 3 Indiana vs. No. 6 Georgia Tech	Tuesday, March 14	9 p.m.	ESPN
No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 7 Belmont	Wednesday, March 15	7 p.m.	ESPN3

Matchup	Date	Time (ET)	TV Info
No. 1 Illinois State vs. No. 8 UC Irvine	Wednesday, March 15	9:30 p.m.	ESPNU
No. 4 UCF vs. No. 5 Colorado	Wednesday, March 15	7 p.m.	ESPN3
No. 3 Utah vs. No. 6 Boise State	Tuesday, March 14	10 p.m.	ESPNU
No. 2 Illinois vs. No. 7 Valparaiso	Tuesday, March 14	7:15 p.m.	ESPN2

Matchup	Date	Time (ET)	TV Info
No. 1 Iowa vs. No. 8 South Dakota	Wednesday, March 15	7 p.m.	ESPN2
No. 4 TCU vs. No. 5 Fresno State	Wednesday, March 15	8 p.m.	ESPN3
No. 3 Alabama vs. No. 6 Richmond	Tuesday, March 14	9:15 p.m.	ESPN2
No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 7 Oakland	Tuesday, March 14	8 p.m.	ESPNU

Second-round games will run Thursday through next Monday, and the quarterfinals begin March 21, according to NCAA.com. The tournament shifts to Madison Square Garden March 28 for the semifinals, and the two finalists will play March 30. All games will be available to live-stream on Watch ESPN.

A full NIT bracket is available on NCAA.com.

The Syracuse Orange will likely have a chip on their shoulder in the NIT. They missed out on the NCAA tournament despite victories over the Duke Blue Devils and Virginia Cavaliers last month and a win over the Florida State Seminoles in January.

"Only thing [the selection committee] talked about was our bad losses," Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said, per ESPN PR. "We went out [and] played teams. I don't know if everyone did that."

CoachingSearch.com's Chris Vannini countered that the Orange's resume wasn't all that strong in the first place:

Syracuse undoubtedly has one of the most talented teams in the NIT. Andrew White III is averaging 18 points a game, while John Gillon's 5.3 assists per game and Tyler Lydon's 8.4 rebounds per game rank in the top five in the ACC.

Still, it's fair to wonder whether a team one year removed from the Final Four will have a hard time getting motivated for the NIT.

The NIT selection committee obviously has a flair for the dramatic after matching Syracuse up against the UNC-Greensboro Spartans.

Following the Orange's ACC tournament exit, Boeheim argued the event should never return to Greensboro, North Carolina, per ESPN.com's Dana O'Neil: "There's no reason to play in Greensboro. The only reason they play there is because the league offices are there, it's always been there, and there are like 150 people who like to have meetings. It should not be there."

That elicited a response from the city of Greensboro's official Twitter account:

"

.@AdamZagoria @ACCSports We kindly disagree. But I guess you can lose in the 1st round anywhere. At least it's a quick ride home.

— City of Greensboro (@greensborocity) March 8, 2017"

Sports on Earth's Matt Brown is happy to see Syracuse and UNC-Greensboro facing off in the first round:

The Clemson Tigers will also be a team to watch in the NIT. They're the highest-ranked team (No. 35) on KemPom.com that failed to reach the NCAA tournament.

Clemson doesn't have a ton of signature wins and went 8-13 against teams inside the top 100 of the RPI. Still, the Tigers sit 29th in adjusted offense and 84th in adjusted defense, according to KenPom.com.

The NIT didn't make things easy for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Not only could a quarterfinal date with Clemson loom, the Hawkeyes may meet the TCU Horned Frogs in the second round. ESPN Stats & Info made the case for the Horned Frogs being one of the best to miss the NCAA tournament cut:

TCU showed in its Big 12 tournament upset of the Kansas Jayhawks it can topple any team when it's playing to the best of its ability.

The NCAA tournament will command a big spotlight in the weeks ahead, but the NIT will be an entertaining diversion for fans looking for a change of pace.