NIT 2017: Saturday's Round Scores, Updated Bracket, Sunday's 2nd-Round Schedule

The 2017 NCAA tournament didn't feature a ton of upsets in the round of 64. The NIT picked up the slack, however, with nine lower seeds winning their opening-round matchups.

Hey, March Madness isn't exclusive to the Big Dance, it turns out.   

Below, we'll break down Saturday's lone matchup and preview Sunday's contests.

Winner	Score	Loser
Ole Miss	85-80	Syracuse

It might be time to rename the Region 1 section of the NIT bracket. Region Upset has become more fitting.

On Saturday, the No. 5 seed Ole Miss Rebels knocked off the No. 1 Syracuse Orange, 85-80, at the Carrier Dome, marking the fourth game in the region won by a lower seed. 

Ultimately, the Orange had no answer for a torrid shooting performance from the Rebels, who were red-hot from beyond the arc (15-of-32). Guard Terrence Davis led the charge, scoring 30 points, notching seven rebounds and making six of his seven three-point attempts.

Deandre Burnett added 19 points for the Rebels, while Cullen Neal provided 15 points off the bench.

Tyler Lydon's huge night (15 points, 14 rebounds, two steals, two blocks) wasn't enough for the Orange, one of the favorites in the tournament. Neither was a balanced scoring performance that saw Andrew White III (18 points), Taurean Thompson (18 points) and Tyus Battle (17 points) all make major contributions.

Ole Miss now awaits the winner of the No. 6 seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets vs. the No. 7 seed Belmont Bruins, with those two teams squaring off Sunday at McCamish Pavilion. Given the way the region has played out thus far, Ole Miss shouldn't consider it an advantage they'll have the better seed in the matchup.

Below, we'll break down Sunday's schedule.

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup	TV
March 19	12 p.m.	(6) Georgia Tech vs. (7) Belmont	ESPN
March 19	5 p.m.	(1) Iowa vs. (4) TCU	ESPN2
March 19	7:30 p.m.	(6) Richmond vs. (7) Oakland	ESPNU

You can find the updated NIT bracket here.

Sunday's play will open with a battle of the underdogs, as Georgia Tech will face Belmont after each team opened the NIT with an upset win in the first round. The Yellow Jackets appreciated the chance to play a home game as the underdog, surely, after the Indiana Hoosiers decided their home court was too prestigious for the NIT.

The Hoosiers, however, weren't too prestigious for Georgia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets will now have the unenviable task of trying to slow down Evan Bradds, Belmont's leading scorer. Against the No. 2 seed Georgia Bulldogs, he posted 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Don't expect a down game either—Bradds has scored double-digit points in all but one contest this season.

The second game on the slate may be one of the few second-round matchups to feature all chalk, as the No. 1 Iowa Hawkeyes take on the No. 4 TCU Horned Frogs. The matchup will be highlighted by a contrast in style, as TCU allows just 59.0 points per game, while Iowa scores 80.2 per contest, led by the dangerous Peter Jok (19.8 PPG).

Styles make fights, as the old cliche goes. This should be a good one.

Sunday's third game will feature another pair of Cinderellas, as the No. 6 seed Richmond Spiders face the No. 7 seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies. Richmond's T.J. Cline has been excellent this season, averaging 17.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, while ShawnDre' Jones provides 17.0 points per contest.

As that pair goes, so go the Spiders.

Oakland, meanwhile, relies heavily on the trio of Martez Walker, Jalen Hayes and Sherron Dorsey-Walker. The Golden Grizzlies are also on fire at the moment, having won 10 of their last 11. It's a tough matchup for any team in the NIT.

Richmond, of course, has won six of seven. This one's gonna be fun.