NIT Schedule and Predictions

For all the bubble teams that fail to make the NCAA Tournament, there is always the National Invitational Tournament. The tournament doesn't have the prestige it did back in the early days of college hoops, but it is still a way for teams to keep playing basketball. 

The bracket above shows the 32 teams in the 2013 NIT. The tournament started Tuesday March 18. See a full schedule of the first round below (All times EDT): 

March 18: 

No. 7 Niagara at No. 2 Maryland, 7p.m., ESPN2

No. 5 St. John's at No. 4 St. Joseph's, 7p.m., ESPNU

No. 5 Louisiana Tech at No. 4 Florida St., 7:15p.m., ESPN3

No. 1 Kentucky at No. 8 Robert Morris, 7:30p.m., ESPN

No. 8 Norfolk St. at No. 1 Virginia, 9p.m., ESPNU

No. 8 Northeastern at No. 1 Alabama, 9p.m., ESPN2

No. 6 Ohio at No. 3 Denver, 9:15p.m., ESPN3

No. 6 Washington at No. 3 BYU, 9:30p.m., ESPN

No. 5 Stephen F. Austin at No. 4 Stanford, 11p.m., ESPN2

March 19: 

No. 6 Indiana State at No. 3 Iowa, 7p.m., ESPN2 

No. 7 Stony Brook at No. 2 UMass, 7:15p.m., ESPN3 

No. 5 Charlotte at No. 4 Providence, 7:15p.m., ESPN3 

No. 7 Mercer at No. 2 Tennessee, 8p.m., ESPNU

No. 7 Long Beach State at No. 2 Baylor, 9p.m., ESPN2

No. 8 Charleston at No. 1 Southern Miss, 9:15p.m., ESPN3

No. 6 Detroit at No. 3 Arizona State, 10p.m., ESPNU 

Second and third round games will take place March 21-27 before the final four teams will travel to New York City and Madison Square Garden for the semi finals on April 2 and the championship game on April 4.

Prediction wise, expect Ohio to make an upset run through the tournament, they have NCAA Tournament experience, so shouldn't be deterred by the pressure of the NIT.