NIT Tournament 2017: Updated Bracket and Quarterfinals Schedule

The chaotic men's National Invitation Tournament continued Monday as No. 1 seed Illinois State lost its first home game this season, a 64-63 loss to the University of Central Florida. UCF overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to beat the Redbirds.

No No. 1 seed is left in the NIT now, and Illinois is the only No. 2 seed remaining. The four No. 3 seeds have already been eliminated.

With the way this tournament has played out, an analyst might as well flip a coin to pick the winners, but we're going to give predicting a couple quarterfinal games a shot.

Here's a look at the latest NIT bracket, the quarterfinal schedule and picks for tonight's two games.

Bracket

Quarterfinals Schedule

Matchup	Date	Time (ET)	Television
Richmond at TCU	Tuesday, March 21	7 p.m.	ESPN2
Georgia Tech at Ole Miss	Tuesday, March 21	9 p.m.	ESPN2
Illinois at Central Florida	Wednesday, March 22	7 p.m.	ESPN2
CSU Bakersfield at Texas-Arlington	Wednesday, March 22	9 p.m.	ESPNU

Schedule information via ncaa.com.

Richmond at TCU

Despite losing freshman guard Jaylon Fisher (9.9 points per game) for the rest of the tournament with a broken wrist, the TCU Horned Frogs defeated Iowa in Iowa City 94-92 in overtime Sunday.

TCU, which ended the regular season on an ugly seven-game losing streak before defeating Oklahoma and Kansas in the Big 12 tournament, is back on track in recent weeks.

Richmond has not lost a game in regulation since February 17 (its lone loss since then was an 87-77 overtime defeat to VCU in the Atlantic-10 tournament semifinals).

That's due in large part to A-10 Player of the Year T.J. Cline, who averages 18.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists this season. He also registered two triple-doubles this year.

The 6'9" senior forward will be the best player on the floor in Fort Worth on Tuesday night, but TCU is battle-tested and playing at home. The Horned Frogs beat Iowa State, Illinois State and Kansas this year and finished above .500 despite having one of the toughest strength of schedules in the country (27th, per ESPN).

Richmond only has one win against a team in the top 90 of the RPI (No. 37 Rhode Island) and has a strength of schedule ranked 98th, per ESPN.

TCU may not be able to slow Cline down (very few teams have), but the Horned Frogs should win.

Pick: TCU

Georgia Tech at Ole Miss

Ole Miss pulled off one of a few NIT stunners this year when it beat Syracuse in the Carrier Dome 85-80. The Orange were 16-3 at home this year (prior to the Ole Miss game) and had beaten ACC rivals Duke, Florida State and Virginia.

Then again, as the NCAA tournament has revealed this year, the ACC may not have been as strong as people (myself included) thought in hindsight. Only one of nine ACC teams to make the NCAA tournament reached the Sweet 16.

Regardless, Ole Miss has looked strong in these last two weeks, led by senior forward Sebastian Saiz, sophomore guard Terence Davis and junior guard Deandre Burnett.

Saiz, a double-double machine, posted 23 points and 11 rebounds in a 91-83 win over Monmouth in the first round. Davis scored 30 against Syracuse, making six of seven three-pointers, and Burnett has averaged 18 points per game in the NIT.

Georgia Tech looked like it was in position for a strong season earlier this year when it opened ACC play by defeating future NCAA tournament No. 1 seed North Carolina, but the Yellow Jackets scuffled through conference play, going 8-10 and losing six of those games by double digits.

The Yellow Jackets beat Indiana and Belmont by an average of 13 points to start NIT play, thanks in part to the great play of senior forward Quinton Stephens, who is averaging 19.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the tournament.

It's a strong start to the tournament, but Ole Miss just beat a better team in Syracuse in its building. It's hard seeing Georgia Tech, which lost seven of its last 10 games before the NIT, going to Oxford and taking down the Rebels.

Pick: Ole Miss