NIT Tournament 2016: Bracket, schedule and scores

Thanks to some unusual snubs by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, 2016's NIT field may be one of the strongest of the decade.

A strange Selection Sunday left a handful of teams who looked like solid NCAA Tournament bets on the sideline. Now, St. Bonaventure, South Carolina and Monmouth can prove the Selection Committee wrong with big performances at the NIT.

The 79th annual National Invitation Tournament will feature teams whose bubbles burst on Sunday alongside low-major powers that couldn't win their conference tournaments in a 32-team battle. The final stretch of 2016 will mean different things for different programs. For South Carolina, it's Frank Martin's opportunity to prove that a 24-8 Power 5 team deserved to be dancing. For Virginia Tech, it's a launching pad for a roster that will return all but one player in 2016-17 and had more ACC wins than Pittsburgh or Syracuse. For UAB, it's to reverse the ugly loss that dropped the Conference USA regular season champs out of their conference tournament.

Those are just a handful of the storylines that could push the NIT from "second-tier tournament" to "must-watch basketball" this spring. Hell, Monmouth's bench might drop the tourney into that second group all by itself. Here's everything you need to know about the first round, which is taking place at an underrated basketball program near you.

The format

The NIT is a 32-team, single-elimination tournament that plays its first three rounds on campus sites. The field is split into four regions of teams seeded 1-8. In most cases, the lower seed hosts each game until the semifinals. The only first-round exception this year is No. 2 Florida, which will travel to No. 7 North Florida due to a scheduling conflict in its home arena. As mentioned above, the semifinals and finals will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The teams

St. Bonaventure Region

1. Saint Bonaventure
2. BYU
3. Virginia Tech
4. Creighton
5. Alabama
6. Princeton
7. UAB
8. Wagner

Valparaiso Region

1. Valparaiso
2. Saint Mary's
3. Georgia
4. Florida State
5. Davidson
6. Belmont
7. New Mexico State
8. Texas Southern

South Carolina Region

1. South Carolina
2. San Diego State
3. Washington
4. Georgia Tech
5. Houston
6. Long Beach State
7. Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne
8. High Point

Monmouth Region

1. Monmouth
2. Florida
3. Ohio State
4. George Washington
5. Hofstra
6. Akron
7. North Florida
8. Bucknell

Bracket

You can find the printable 2016 NIT Bracket here.

Schedule and results (all times Eastern):

Tuesday, March 15

No. 3 Florida State 84, No. 5 Davidson 74
No. 1 South Carolina 88, No. 8 High Point 66
No. 3 Ohio State 72, No. 6 Akron 63 (OT)
No. 4 Creighton 72, No. 5 Alabama 54
No. 2 Florida 97, No. 7 North Florida 68
No. 1 Valparaiso 84, No. 8 Texas Southern 73
No. 3 Washington 107, No. 6 Long Beach State 102
No. 2 San Diego State, 10 p.m. 79, No. 7 IPFW 55
No. 2 Saint Mary's 58, No. 7 New Mexico State 56

Wednesday, March 16

No. 8 Wagner 79, No. 1 Saint Bonaventure 75
No. 3 Georgia 93, No. 6 Belmont 84
No. 1 Monmouth 90, No. 8 Bucknell 80
No. 3 Virginia Tech 86, No. 6 Princeton 81
No. 4 George Washington 82, No. 5 Hofstra 80
No. 4 Georgia Tech 81, No. 5 Houston 62
No. 2 BYU 97, No. 7 UAB 79

Second round

Thursday, March 17

No. 1 Valparaiso 81, No. 3 Florida State 69

Friday, March 18

No. 2 BYU 80, No. 3 Virginia Tech 77

Saturday, March 19

No. 8 Wagner vs. No. 4 Creighton, noon (ESPN)

Sunday, March 20

No. 2 Florida vs. No. 3 Ohio State, noon (ESPN)
No. 2 Saint Mary's vs. No. 3 Georgia, 7:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

Monday, March 21

No. 1 Monmouth vs. No. 4 George Washington, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 4 Georgia Tech, 9 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 2 San Diego State vs. No. 3 Washington, 11:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

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