NIT 2017: TCU vs. Georgia Tech Championship Schedule and Predictions

Two teams that sat on the NCAA tournament bubble in March before it popped will play in the National Invitational Tournament championship game on Thursday, March 30, at 8 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

TCU and Georgia Tech, No. 4 and No. 6 seeds in the NIT, respectively, will face off in the finals, with the winner taking its first-ever NIT title.

Let's take a look at each team's path to the finals and make a prediction for the game.

TCU

The Horned Frogs looked to be in position for an at-large NCAA tournament bid in February, but they lost seven straight Big 12 games to close the regular season.

TCU beat Oklahoma and upset future NCAA tournament No. 1 seed Kansas in the Big 12 tournament, but its dream of a conference championship died in the semifinals against future title winner Iowa State.

TCU beat Fresno State in the opening round of the NIT before edging No. 1 seed Iowa in Iowa City, 94-92, in overtime. The Horned Frogs then crushed Richmond, 86-68, and UCF, 68-53, in the next two rounds to earn a spot in the championship against Georgia Tech.

Junior guard Kenrich Williams has been TCU's star in the NIT, averaging 13.3 points, 12.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. He even posted a triple-double against Richmond with 11 points, 14 boards and 10 assists.

Junior forward Vladimir Brodziansky has been TCU's leading scorer in the NIT, posting 15.5 points in his four appearances (and 19 per game in his last three).

Georgia Tech

Like TCU, the Yellow Jackets looked promising earlier in the season.

They beat future No. 1 NCAA tournament seed (and Final Four participant) North Carolina by 12 points in the ACC opener, but they followed that win with a 54-point loss to Duke.

Still, NCAA tournament hopes were ever-present after wins over Florida State and Notre Dame catapulted the Yellow Jackets to a 5-4 ACC record.

However, the Yellow Jackets lost six of their last nine conference games (their losses were by an average of 11.3 points) and were beaten by Pittsburgh in the first round of the conference tournament, effectively ending their NCAA tournament hopes.

Once in the NIT, however, Georgia Tech has consistently looked like the team that beat ACC powers UNC, FSU and Notre Dame, defeating its four NIT opponents by an average of 12.25 points. The Yellow Jackets punched their ticket into the finals by beating No. 8 seed CS Bakersfield, 76-61, in the semifinals.

The three-headed monster of freshman guard Josh Okogie, junior center Ben Lammers and senior forward Quinton Stephens has led the team. Okogie leads the team in scoring with 16.2 points per game, Lammers averages 14.4 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.4 blocks a night, and Stephens posts 10.5 points and 7.7 rebounds. 

Prediction

As strong as TCU has looked in the NIT, it's hard seeing the Horned Frogs having an answer for the dominant Lammers, who has accrued a total of 18 blocks in the NIT, including eight against Ole Miss in the quarterfinals and five against CS Bakersfield in the semifinals.

That being said, as strong as Georgia Tech has looked in the NIT, it's hard seeing the Yellow Jackets having an answer for the dominant Williams, who is an automatic double-double at this point.

Still, the Yellow Jackets are one of the best defensive teams in men's Division I college basketball, ranking sixth in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom.com.

Aside from a 90-61 clunker to Syracuse in the Carrier Dome to close the regular season, Georgia Tech hasn't allowed more than 71 points in a game since February 4 at Wake Forest, so the Yellow Jackets have played largely stout defense for 12 of their last 13 games.

Expect Lammers to be the difference in a lower-scoring game in the 60s.

Pick: Georgia Tech