NCAA, NIT, CBI, CIT Viewing Guide For Wednesday, March 15, 2017

If you’re only able to listen today, check out TuneIn’s college basketball lineup.

All times are Eastern, adjust accordingly.

NCAA First Four

TruTV will air both games. You can also stream them on NCAA March Madness Live.

No. 16 North Carolina Central Eagles (25-8) vs. No. 16 UC Davis Aggies (22-12), 6:40 p.m.
The winner advances to play Midwest No. 1 Kansas in Tulsa on Friday at 6:50 p.m. ET.

No. 11 USC Trojans (24-9) vs. No. 6 Providence Friars (20-12), approx. 9:10 p.m.
The winner advances to play East No. 6 SMU in Tulsa on Friday at 3:10 p.m. ET.

The Eagles, 202nd in the RPI but 50 spots higher in KenPom, are a 14/15-seed-level team playing in Dayton, while the Aggies, playing their first ever NCAA Tournament game, are the lowest-ranked team in KenPom, at 217th.

The nightcap is a rematch of last year’s First Round game in Raleigh, which the Friars claimed by the minimum margin, 70-69. If the Trojans overturn that, they’ll earn a rematch with an SMU squad they defeated in November.

NIT First Round

Syracuse Region

No. 8 UNC Greensboro Spartans (25-9) at No. 1 Syracuse Orange (18-14), 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
The winner plays Ole Miss in the second round.
No. 7 Belmont Bruins (22-6) at No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs (19-14), 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
The winner plays Georgia Tech in the second round.

Originally, only the game in Athens was scheduled for tonight, but thanks to the Eastern snowstorm, the Greensboro/Jim Boeheim grudge match was moved to tonight. And that scheduling change had ripple effects throughout the ESPN Networks’ schedule.

Expect the Bulldogs to be involved in a close one, and for the Bruins to test them severely.

Illinois State Region

No. 5 Colorado Buffaloes (19-14) at No. 4 UCF Knights (21-11), 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
No. 8 UC Irvine Anteaters (21-14) at No. 1 Illinois State Redbirds (27-6), 9:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

On Tuesday, Illinois routed Valparaiso and Boise State won at Utah to move on to the second round in this quadrant of the bracket.

Former Stanford Cardinal coach Johnny Dawkins meets a familiar foe in the Knights’ opener in Orlando, while Dan Muller’s Redbirds would love to go on a run to New York after their tourney snub.

Iowa Region

No. 5 Fresno State Bulldogs (20-12) at No. 4 TCU Horned Frogs (19-15), 8 p.m. (ESPN3)
No. 8 South Dakota Coyotes (22-11) at No. 1 Iowa Hawkeyes (18-14), 9 p.m. (ESPN2)

Both lower seeds won road games last night, as Oakland defeated Clemson by five, after trailing by 19 at the half, and Richmond handed Alabama its second consecutive NIT first-round loss.

Provided the Coyotes don’t win in Iowa City, the two winners here will be sitting pretty for a quarterfinal home game.

Cal Region

No. 7 Akron Zips (26-8) at No. 2 Houston Cougars (21-10), 7:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
No. 6 UT Arlington Mavericks (25-8) at No. 3 BYU Cougars (22-11), 11 p.m. (ESPN2)

But the biggest upset of Tuesday night came in Berkeley, where Cal State Bakersfield topped No. 1 seed California 73-68. The Roadrunners will next visit Colorado State, which defeated College of Charleston by seven in Fort Collins

Cal’s loss opens this bracket up for the four teams in the bottom half, all of whom are quite capable of making it to New York. In fact, BYU did it last season.

College Basketball Invitational First Round

Loyola (Md.) Greyhounds (15-16) at George Mason Patriots (20-13), 7 p.m. (Atlantic10.com)
San Francisco Dons (20-12) at Rice Owls (22-11), 8 p.m. (ConferenceUSA.com)
Eastern Washington Eagles (22-11) at Wyoming Cowboys (18-14), 9 p.m. (MWN)

At the moment, three of the CBI’s eight first round games are lined up for streaming. The Dons-Owls matchup, pairing two pleasant mid-major surprises, is the most interesting of the trio.

CollegeInsider.com Tournament First Round

All three games will be streamed on Facebook Live.

Fairfield Stags (16-14) at UMBC Retrievers (18-12), 7 p.m.
Ball State Cardinals (21-12) at Fort Wayne Mastodons (19-12), 7 p.m.
Georgia State Panthers (20-12) at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (20-11), 8 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (18-14) at Idaho Vandals (18-13), 11 p.m.

Tonight’s four winners will move on to at least the second round, with quarterfinal byes available to the best teams with only 13 first-round winners in this field.

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