Mid-major fans (they exist, and they think they’re better than you) are gonna love this. But the joke’s on them. There’s NIT implications all over the place with these.
- Richmond and Loyola play in the biggest game Indiana will see this weekend, and that line was a lot better before I remembered Iowa/Gonzaga’s in Sioux Falls.
- Davidson visits Rhode Island. Bubble teams jockeying upon the ladder. Close to the ocean, too, I’d imagine, given that I’m pretty sure everything in Rhode Island is close to the ocean. Sounds dangerous. The jockeying and the ocean. Especially this time of year. Though maybe fewer sharks? Or do they just not attack because nobody’s swimming? I will not be the one to find out.
- BYU visits San Diego State, and I don’t know, is it too much to ask for just one bloody fight? Not, like, gruesome, but with a busted lip or something? Getting those kinds of vibes. Feel like both these fanbases are always sneakily ready to throw down. Hope their players are too.
- In last night’s glory, well, actually it was kind of a disappointing night. Seton Hall stopped being NIT perfect (or did they??), beating Marquette in Milwaukee (shoutout Marquette, though). NC State dropped one to Saint Louis, but someone had to win that game. San Francisco stayed below the waterline, losing comfortably to Oregon.
- Finally, a quick shoutout to some NIT tropes in action tonight on the gridiron: A depressing conference championship game in the Pac-12, a dominant mid-major who’s played close to nobody (really, they’ve played very few games), and Nebraska playing Rutgers. Plus the Conference USA Championship, which always feels like it shares something spiritual with the NIT even if it doesn’t add up.
