The storyline for the first three rounds of the National Invitation Tournament in men's basketballcan be explained in one word: chaos.The No. 1 through No. 3 seeds have all been knocked out of the 32-team field before the semifinals, and only two No. 4 seeds, a No. 6 seed and a No. 8 seed (CSU Bakersfield, which had to win three road games to get to New York) remain.Here's a look at the NIT bracket from the quarterfinals through semifinals, the latest NIT schedule and four storylines to watch.Storylines to WatchCSUB's Cinderella RunIf you can excuse the fact that I am putting my Captain Obvious hat for a moment, CSUB's run to the NIT semifinals has been remarkable.The Roadrunners have beaten a Pac-12 team (Cal), a Mountain West runner-up (Colorado State) and the Sun Belt regular-season champion (Texas-Arlington) on the road leading up to the semifinals.CSUB, which lost in the Western Athletic Conference championship game to New Mexico State, has hung around against stiff competition this year. The Roadrunners took SMU to the limit in a 49-43 slugfest in Dallas and kept within striking distance of Arizona, losing to the Wildcats, 78-66.At this point, it wouldn't be a surprise to see CSUB win the entire NIT, and one has to wonder whether the neutral-site crowd in New York will be partial to the underdog Roadrunners and provide a "home-away-from-home" environment. That would go a long way toward CSUB completing this remarkable NIT ride.UCF: Team of the Future'The Knights have not made the NCAA tournament since 2005, but they may break that streak next year. UCF is 24-11 this season and rolling through the NIT, beating a Pac-12 team (Colorado), Illinois State on the road (the Redbirds were previously undefeated at home) and a Big Ten team (Illinois).UCF should return leading scorer, sophomore guard B.J. Taylor (17.6 points per game) and defensive stalwart and 7'6" center Tacko Fall (11.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks) next year alongside junior guard A.J. Davis (8.3 points and 7.2 rebounds).The Knights could potentially use the momentum from winning the NIT into a strong 2017-18 season ending with an NCAA tournament bid.The Block PartyGeorgia Tech center Ben Lammers blocks 3.34 shots per game, which is third in Division I. He filled up the stat sheet against Ole Miss in the quarterfinals, posting 20 pounds, four rebounds, four assists, four steals and eight blocks.That last number is not a typo. Lammers also swatted five shots against Indiana in the first round.If Georgia Tech wins on Tuesday and UCF does the same, it would set up a fantastic one-on-one matchup between Lammers and Fall in Thursday's final.Fall has the clear height and wingspan advantage, but Lammers is quicker and has a better offensive arsenal. It will be fascinating to see those two face off on Thursday if the matchup comes to fruition.Triple-Double WatchTCU guard Kenrich Williams has seven double-doubles in his last nine games and posted a triple-double (11 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists) against Richmond to lead the Horned Frogs into the NIT semifinals.Williams is shooting very well from the field in his last nine games, making 51 of 84 field goals (60.7 percent).It will be interesting to see how Williams fares against UCF, one of the best defensive teams in the country. The Knights only allow 61.0 points per game, which ranks fourth in Division I.The guess is that Williams doesn't post his second consecutive triple-double, but expect the 6'7" guard to get his eighth double-double in 10 games.
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