After day 1 of the NIT my bracket has already taken a beating. I went 5-3 yesterday. Losing out on Ohio St., whom I picked against out of spite, URI who held a 15 point lead at the half but choked it away and lost to a 3 pointer with 3.2 seconds left. And finally the my Final Four Florida St. Seminoles dumped a home game in overtime. Boo to them. I'm hurting in my quest to win my NIT pool of 1 now.

My predicted winners were Umass, Maryland, Cuse, Arizona St. and Southern Illinois. Cuse and the Salukis are 'Elite 8' picks.