It’s hard to understate the magnitude of today’s game in Ft. Worth. Iowa State, fresh off one of the worst losses of any high-major this year. TCU, trying to hold themselves in NIT position. In yesterday’s NIT Bracketology, each team found a home in the thick of the at-large picture, but given how narrow the NIT field is, no one is truly safe.
A victory by the Cyclones would be risky. After all, the game’s on the road. But with a challenging Big 12 slate ahead of them, they probably need to win at least one they shouldn’t, and this is just such an opportunity.
TCU, meanwhile, is not in a place in which it can afford to lose at home to anyone in the Big 12 outside of Kansas, Baylor, and West Virginia. And maybe Texas Tech. But definitely not the other half of the conference. Don’t lose to those guys at home, Jamie Dixon. I know you want to. But I’m telling you it would be bad if you did. I’ve warned you.
Lot of other big games today too.
In the SoCon, UNC-Greensboro plays at Wofford. East Tennessee State visits Furman. All four of the league’s best teams, in competition against one another, with the ETSU/Furman winner likely emerging from the weekend the conference favorite (and possibly thereby an NIT-bid favorite).
In the SEC, LSU plays at Tennessee, who actually might need to win this to keep NITennessee a possibility, given the direction things are trending in Knoxville with Lamonte Turner out for the year. LSU would not be badly hurt by the loss. Might even be helped. Symbiosis.
Back in the Big 12, Oklahoma tries to take care of business against Kansas State while Oklahoma State looks to avoid what would be a costly victory in Lubbock. The Big 12 has six teams with a very real chance of making the NIT, and without checking the records, I’m going to say that’s an historic possibility (please be willing to accept a retraction should one become necessary).
In the Big East, Providence and DePaul grapple for position on the underside of NIT-Land, as do Notre Dame and Syracuse in the ACC. The Pac-12 somehow doesn’t have any games too NIT-impactful today, but in the Mountain West, San Diego State could start salvaging what’s been a woeful NIT campaign by losing at Utah State, where the Aggies are themselves reeling following their loss to UNLV.
There’s always action in the Missouri Valley, and Northern Iowa’s matchup with Bradley is a huge one, but don’t overlook the Indiana State/Drake and Loyola/Missouri State games.
Tuesday night’s going to be the real NIT one in the MAC, when Kent State hosts Toledo and Buffalo visits Ball State (putting this out there now because there’s a significant possibility I forget to blog about it Tuesday), but Akron’s got a tricky trip today to Ypsilanti. Keep an eye on that one.
In the Sun Belt, Georgia State has a challenging contest at Coastal Carolina while UT-Arlington tries to right the ship in Little Rock, and Georgia Southern attempts to continue their renaissance out in Boone against Appalachian State.
William & Mary’s visit to Boston will have ramifications throughout the CAA as Northeastern tries to keep pace with Charleston atop the standings. Elsewhere in New England, St. Francis (PA) tries to bounce back from Thursday night’s loss at Bryant while visiting bottom-feeding Central Connecticut State, and Bryant, for their part, tries to grab hold of the title of “team to beat” with Fairleigh Dickinson in town.
Further west, Northern Colorado needs to do what they should do with Montana in town to keep from falling out of favorite-hood in the Big Sky. The Bears aren’t used to having a target on their back. The Grizzlies are. We’ll see who shows up under the bright lights in Greeley.
Belmont’s not in trouble yet, but it would still quiet some doubts if they could really beat the shit out of Eastern Illinois in Nashville. Similarly, Radford could grab hold of the narrative in the Big South by obliterating High Point, especially if Winthrop drops one they could very well drop down at Campbell.
It’s only proxy wars in the Southland and SWAC, but Bethune-Cookman’s matchup with Norfolk State, in Norfolk, should be a telling MEAC opener.
And in nonconference play, don’t forget about Georgia at Memphis and Mississippi at Wichita State. None of those four teams are too firmly entrenched in the NIT picture yet. That could change today with the right results.
