Oh man.
We were going to write this about Utah State losing at UNLV last night, but then Tulsa went and lost at Temple to start the day today.
Goodness, guys.
Get it together.
Other NIT notes:
- UNC visits Pitt in a game that feels like it’s going to go badly for both teams. I don’t know what that means. I wrote it, though, and I’m sticking with it. Maybe there’s gonna be another Bane appearance in Pittsburgh. Am I allowed to make jokes about that?
- SMU visits new NIT Bracketology appearer Memphis. Not sure Memphis can afford a loss and stay in the field, but there are a lot more games to go this week, and if Penny Hardaway tries to bribe me to go in and edit the Bracketology, I’ll listen to the offer.
- Thought we forgot about Duke? Oh, you didn’t? But, like, we waited kind of a long time to mention them. Well, ok. They host Georgia Tech tonight and the NIT ramifications are endless! Ish. Basically, just need Georgia Tech to hang tough to keep both of them in the field.
- Drake resumes play, going to Missouri State for their first game in three weeks. So I’m gonna say something: I respect Des Moines. But Drake annoys me. Something about the hype they’re getting. Feels pretty 2019 UNC-Greensboro. Just saying.
- Kentucky started the week six spots out of the projected NIT, which is close enough for us to mention that they’re playing Alabama tonight. We’d say there isn’t a lot Kentucky could do at Alabama to hurt their case, but Alabama’s beaten the shit out of some teams, so we would be lying if we said that.
- LSU’s got an opportunity to solidify their chances, playing Texas A&M on the road. One of these days, we’re gonna look up and Buzz Williams will have figured out A&M, right? Or is A&M unfigureoutable? Is the solution to just play a mediocre schedule, get crushed by one good team, narrowly sneak away from a middling low-level Power Five school in a big postseason game and then complain that you didn’t get to get crushed by that one good team again? Is that success at A&M?
- Back to hyped mid-major darlings making their returns: Saint Louis hosts Dayton in their first game since before Christmas. The Billikens are 1-1 against projected NIT+ competition (the + means upwards of the NIT, and in this case encapsulates Minnesota). Dayton…I don’t know what to do about Dayton. They’ve been trouble.
- We were going to give Richmond the dignity of not mentioning their trip to Saint Joe’s tonight, but that Hawk’s gonna flap, and we don’t know if the Spiders can handle the flap. If they don’t, it’s unlikely they’ll remain in our projection. Just making that clear for everyone involved.
