South Carolina has a proud NIT history, being the only program in the last 75 years to win back-to-back titles. And yet the last few years have not been kind to the Gamecocks. In each of the last three seasons, The Other SC™’s been on the bubble, and in the two in which there was a tournament, they didn’t make the cut.
There’s hope again in Columbia, though, and not in the way they give themselves hope in football, which is to chant “SEC” and hope nobody looks to see who’s chanting it. No, this is real hope. This is NIT hope.
Last night, South Carolina walloped a mediocre Texas A&M team. Doesn’t sound like much, does it? Exactly. That’s the perfect thing to do to a mediocre Texas A&M team. Throw in one fine loss (at Houston), one “ehhh” loss (neutral court, Liberty) and one “well that was ok” win (neutral court, Tulsa) and it’s hard to say what more Frank Martin could’ve done by now. They’re 3-2. 1-0 in a disappointing conference. They’ve got a path. They have got a path.
Other notes of note:
- Seton Hawk did what we hoped they’d do, getting rocked in Omaha. We’ll see if it’s enough to pull them back down the halfpipe into our sweet spot, but it at least raises the possibility.
- Richmond won the URI/Richmond game. Tough one for URInation, but can’t be too upset when you’re part of a game that magnificent (on paper—the game itself wasn’t anything that special).
- Mississippi might be clawing its way back, beating Auburn to at least stabilize themselves.
- Pitt! Big win for Jeff Capel in the Carrier Dome. We tried to make a Bag Carrier joke but it wasn’t good.
- Virginia Tech avoided disaster in Louisville, backing down at the last second from quite the self-inflicted wound.
- Tulsa won on the road against South Florida. A road win is a road win right now. That doesn’t make sense but it sure sounds convincing, right?
- Dangerous night for Maryland and Northwestern, who host Iowa and Illinois, respectively. Don’t do anything rash, guys.
- Exhilarating night in the desert, with Mick Cronin leading the Bruins into Tempe. Do you think Mick Cronin was confused when he got to L.A. because his hands weren’t painfully chapped? Seems like a chapped-hand guy.
- Consistently weighty night in the AAC, with Mick Cronin’s Ghost leading Cincinnati into Dallas to play SMU. The heft.
- And finally: Consequential night in the CAA, with Northeastern visiting Hofstra. Would be a good day to surprise us by rolling back out the Dutchmen name, Hofstra. Just saying.
