NIT Tournament 2017: Bracket, Schedule and Monday Predictions

As wild as the NCAA Division I men's college basketball tournament has been in the last two days, the men's NIT has been even crazier. Two No. 1 seeds, three No. 2 seeds and all four No. 3 seeds were sent packing before the quarterfinals.

Here's a look at the latest NIT bracket, the schedule and predictions for the four Monday games.

Bracket 

A printable version can be found here via NCAA.com.

Schedule

Matchup	Round	Date	Time (ET)	Channel
Central Florida at Illinois State	Second Round	Monday, March 20	7 p.m.	ESPN
Akron at Texas-Arlington	Second Round	Monday, March 20	8 p.m.	ESPNU
Boise State at Illinois	Second Round	Monday, March 20	9 p.m.	ESPN
CSU Bakersfield at Colorado State	Second Round	Monday, March 20	11:15 p.m.	ESPN2
Richmond at TCU	Quarterfinals	Tuesday, March 21	7 p.m.	ESPN2
Georgia Tech at Ole Miss	Quarterfinals	Tuesday, March 21	9 p.m.	ESPN2

Source: NCAA.com

The other two quarterfinal matchups are not set, but they will take place on Wednesday. The semifinals will be at Madison Square Garden on March 28 starting at 7 p.m., and the final will play out on March 30 at 8 p.m.

Predictions

Central Florida at Illinois State

The first team to 60 points might win this game, as both teams are defensive-oriented and play at slow paces. Per kenpom.com, UCF is 20th in adjusted defensive efficiency and 289th out of 351 Division I teams in tempo, while Illinois State is 18th and 308th, respectively.

Sophomore guard B.J. Taylor has been UCF's star of late, as he has averaged 20.3 points in his last six games, including a 27-point effort in a 53-49 win over Cincinnati, a No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Tacko Fall, the Knights' 7'6" sophomore center, will also present issues for Illinois State. He averages 11.1 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.

Taylor and Fall will need particularly strong efforts to stop the Redbirds in their home arena, as Illinois State is a perfect 16-0 at home this season.

The Redbirds are led by two seniors, Deontae Hawkins and Paris Lee, and a junior, MiKyle McIntosh, who average between 12.7 and 14 points per game.

Stopping all three will be a tough task for UCF on the road (Hawkins, in particular, is a deadly shooter from deep, making 44.5 percent of his three-pointers), so take Illinois State to win its 17th home game in 17 tries.

Pick: Illinois State

Akron at Texas-Arlington

UT-Arlington topped the century mark in a 105-89 first-round win over BYU, the only team to beat Gonzaga, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, this year.

The Mavericks would have made the tournament if they held serve as a No. 1 seed and won the Sun Belt Conference tournament, but they were upset by Texas State in the semifinals.

UT-Arlington won 25 games this season, including a 65-51 road victory over Saint Mary's, a No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Mavericks have won 26 games this season and have five players averaging over eight points a game.

Akron is in the same boat as UT-Arlington. Like the Mavericks, the Zips finished first in their conference (the MAC) but were upset by Kent State in the championship game.

The Zips have won 27 games and are led by 6'10", 290-pound senior center Isaiah Johnson, who averages 16.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.

The key will be the difference between the two defenses, as Akron ranks just 210th in adjusted defensive efficiency, per kenpom.com. The Mavericks have the players to take advantage of that, as their top three scorers all shoot at least 35 percent from three-point range.

Don't expect the Mavericks to shoot over 55 percent like they did against BYU, but they should win a close contest and advance to the quarterfinals.

Pick: UT-Arlington

Boise State at Illinois

The big news out of Illinois isn't the NIT game that will be played Monday night. Rather, it's the new head coaching hire of former Oklahoma State head coach Brad Underwood, who left the Cowboys after one season.

Underwood previously led Stephen F. Austin for three years, leading it to an 89-14 record (53-1 in the Southland), three NCAA tournament appearances and two first-round wins.

That being said, this shouldn't be much of a distraction for the Fighting Illini, who are 8.5-point favorites over Boise State, per OddsShark. The Broncos did beat SMU, a No. 6 seed in this year's NCAA tournament, but they also struggled a bit down the stretch, losing four of their last seven games before beating Utah in the first round of the NIT.

Furthermore, everyone may have underrated just how good and competitive the Big Ten was this season. Purdue, Wisconsin and Michigan advanced to the Sweet 16, the latter two via upsets over Villanova and Louisville, and Northwestern nearly joined them before losing by six to Gonzaga.

Illinois played in that tough Big Ten and had some impressive victories, including a sweep of Northwestern and wins over Michigan and Michigan State. The Fighting Illini should win at home and move on.

Pick: Illinois

CSU Bakersfield at Colorado State

CSU Bakersfield pulled off a first-round stunner by defeating the Cal Golden Bears, 73-66. The Roadrunners outscored Cal, 44-19 in the first half and hung on for the victory in Haas Pavilion.

In fairness, Cal didn't have star big man Ivan Rabb, who is going to be a first-round NBA draft pick next season, or senior guard Jabari Bird, who scores 14.3 points per game.

That being said, CSU Bakersfield is a tough team. It gave Arizona a run for its money this year (losing by 12 in Tucson) and nearly beat SMU in Dallas, losing by six. Colorado State is going to have a tough challenge at home.

However, the Rams, who won 24 games and made the Mountain West championship game, have two seniors who have been fantastic this season. Guard Gian Clavell averages 20.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, and forward Emmanuel Omogbo puts up 13.9 points and 10.4 boards a night.

They will be tough matchups for CSU Bakersfield, who had a great season but will fall short here.

Pick: Colorado State