What a day for the Friars.
After a the-way-God-intended 57-47 win at DePaul, Providence has entered our updated NIT Bracketology. And we’re glad to have them here.
The rest of the NITuation:
Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song): Stanford, Saint Louis, Utah, Cleveland State (auto-bid), Stephen F. Austin (auto-bid)
Alas. Cleveland State lost.
I think we get updated Horizon League standings tomorrow. It’s possible they’ve announced something and I’ve missed it. But it seems that at best, we’ve got a 50/50 shot of Cleveland State being in the HoLo lead. The auto-bid streak for that conference is in severe danger.
Stephen F. Austin also moved out, the product of Abilene Christian and Sam Houston State gaining ground in the Southland race.
But the biggest movers came from Missouri and the Pac-12, which are, of course, always paired together.
Stanford beating Utah was good for neither. Each is still close, but the gate is narrow and the camel is large. And Saint Louis, now winners of three straight, are A-10 tournament favorites again, albeit narrowly.
Tough times on various bodies of water with varying degrees of salinity.
Moving In: Colorado State, Providence, Louisiana Tech, UC-Santa Barbara, Vermont
UC-Santa Barbara’s a projected automatic bid, but they’re also in at-large bid territory. We’re not that far from a home game at the Thunderdome, which without a tortilla toss would be like one of those wishes from the bad genies. Which are leprechauns? Are leprechauns just bad genies?
Vermont’s back in as a projected auto-bid, and they are not in at-large bid territory. Remember when they lost to UMass-Lowell to open the year? And NJIT and Albany in Burlington? You don’t? Oh. Well. I do. And the NIT DOES TOO!
Louisiana Tech has managed to play 23 games, which means they’re either taking the virus extremely seriously or not seriously at all. They swept UAB this weekend to climb on in.
And then there’s our lovely friend, Colorado State. Fort Collins is always trendy. Glad to see ‘em back, however close to disaster they are.
Teams on NIT Turf Who Are Too Likely to Win Their Conference Tournament
Saint Louis rejoins Marshall on this list. The Billikens would be a 1-seed. The Thundering Herd would be a 4-seed.
Close, on the High Side
The bubble upon which those that miss are punished for all eternity, forced to defend Rick Pitino in an argument with Skip Bayless. Oh. And they also go the the other tournament.
(the teams on the left are closer to the NIT, for each line, than the teams on the right)
Close: Oregon, Seton Hall, St. Bonaventure, UCLA
Closer: Maryland, North Carolina, Xavier, Indiana, Penn State
Closest: Stanford, SMU
Close, on the Low Side
CBI land. Is that happening? They were talking bubble for a minute.
Close: Kentucky, Abilene Christian, Kent State, Akron
Closer: Wright State, Davidson, Dayton, TCU
Closest: Pitt, Utah, Georgia, North Texas
***
And that’s the NITuation.
Other notes for today:
- UConn survived beating Xavier in Cincinnati. I’m not sure how they did that but I’m glad they’re still here.
- Duke got a necessary win in Raleigh. If they, MSU, and Kentucky all fall short I’m going to be heartbroken. Warning you now for when I start sobbing all over these notes in a month.
- Speaking of Kentucky: Beat Auburn in Lexington. Not a difference-maker, but that’s good because it would have been had they lost. The absence of bad, sometimes, is good.
- Mississippi is rising fast, with yesterday’s win in South Carolina vaulting them into the oppositely dangerous territory from that from whence they came.
- North Carolina only scored 48, but it was in Charlottesville, so it’s cool.
- Saint Mary’s lost in Malibu but it’s cool.
- UCLA almost lost to Washington which would’ve been very cool.
- UC-Riverside lost. The program is at risk. The stakes are phenomenally high over there. The weight of the stakes is heavy upon my heart.
- Mississippi State got destroyed by Vanderbilt. They were doing so well, too. Ugh.
- Georgia allowed Alabama to score 115 points, which is something that would happen were I writing Tom Crean antifan fiction.
- Toledo lost to Bowling Green. Rockets are fading. Thankfully, Loren Cristian Jackson and Akron are on the rise. Good options there.
- Boise State survived UNLV at home. Deft performance.
- Loyola shithoused Drake.
- Loyola and Drake rematch today in Des Moines. Loyola is looking solid, but they’re still within the NIT’s reach. They could be the best NITeam ever if they play this correctly. But Drake is fine too.
- Maryland hosts Minnesota tonight. Tricky one for the Terps, who are trying to straddle the .500-but-bad-enough line to feel safe.
- Remember Marquette and Seton Hall? How times have changed. What was once a major pair of NIT hopefuls is now an irrelevant Sunday afternoon game. Unless…it isn’t.
- Pitt visits Georgia Tech. Big one for Pitt. Small one for Georgia Tech.
- Penn State hosts Nebraska. Probably best to win that and figure the rest out later. Actually…that would be an efficient loss. Hmm.
- Notre Dame hosts Miami. Irish are trying to stay in the field, and might need to win impressively to do so. Which is hard to do against Miami. Not because Miami’s good, but because few margins of victory are impressive against such impotence.
- Colgate plays the United States Army today, which would be a lopsided matchup if the rules of basketball did not limit each team to five players on the court at a time.
- Happy Daytona Day!
