GAME NOTES: Playing their first game under interim coach John Brannen, the Alabama Crimson Tide open the 2015 NIT on Tuesday night against the visiting Illinois Fighting Illini.

Both teams are in the Richmond Regional, with Illinois securing the No. 3 seed and Alabama to No. 6 seed. The winner will move on to the second round to take on either Miami-Florida or NC Central.

Despite being the higher seed, Illinois is playing on the road due to renovations occurring at State Farm Center in Champaign.

This will mark the second straight year and the sixth time in all that Illinois is playing in the NIT. The team is 8-5 all-time in the event, and is hoping to stop a two-game losing streak with a victory in this first-round matchup. The Illini were one-and-done in the recently concluded Big Ten Conference Tournament, falling to Michigan in a 73-55 final. The team has lost five of its last seven games to wind up at 19-13 on the season.

Alabama head coach Anthony Grant was relieved of his duties over the weekend, as his teams widely underachieved in the eyes of many. The Crimson Tide went 18-14 overall and 8-10 in conference play to finish eighth in the SEC regular season standings. As a result, the team has been relegated to the NIT for the third time in the last five years, and it owns a record of 23-15 all-time in the event. UA has not strung together consecutive wins since running off six in a row from Dec. 19 to Jan. 10, going just 6-11 since. The Tide, which has won eight of its last nine home games in the NIT, was bounced from the SEC Tournament last Thursday by Florida, 69-61.

These two schools have met three times previously, with Alabama holding a 2-1 series advantage. The last meeting was in the 1996 NIT -- a 72-69 victory for the Crimson Tide in Champaign.

Illinois was a middle-of-the-pack team in the Big Ten this season, posting averages of 69.5 ppg for and 63.2 ppg against, with its best attributes being free-throw shooting (.794) and forcing turnovers (13.0 per game). The team relies on three double-digit scorers to do most of the heavy lifting, as Rayvonte Rice (16.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg), Malcolm Hill (14.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg) and Kendrick Nunn (11.1 ppg) have each performed at or above expected levels.

Alabama's issues stem from the fact that the team is simply average at best in several different areas. There is certainly talent on the roster, notably guys like Levi Randolph (15.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and Rodney Cooper (10.6 ppg), although things would be even better had Ricky Tarrant (13.1 ppg) not suffered a season-ending leg injury back in January. The Tide is putting up 66.7 ppg while permitting 64.0 ppg, shoots 43.8 percent from the field compared to 41.4 percent for the opposition, and does convert its free throws 72 percent of the time.

Winning one for their deposed head coach would be commendable, but the Crimson Tide will need to pull out all the stops for that to happen. As it is, the Illini are the more cohesive unit at the moment, so give them the edge.