It’s here.
The first day.
Let’s take a moment and reflect on how we all got here.
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Ok. Basketball.
Boston College at Providence – 7:00 PM EDT, ESPNU
This is my most intriguing game in the early slot. This is getting major TV placement. It has the most unknown around it.
From what we know, Providence will be without Devin Carter and Rich Barron, each nursing injuries. Unless I missed an injury late in the Virginia game or have missed reporting since, Boston College should be at full strength. Importantly, Providence College is not on spring break right now. That can’t hurt attendance, and neither can playing a team from just up the road.
I’m seeing the Friars favored by three in Kim English’s NIT head coaching debut (I believe he was on staff for Colorado’s 2019 quarterfinal run). If you’re unfamiliar with BC, Quinten Post is the guy to know.
North Texas at LSU – 7:00 PM EDT, SEC Network
The nice thing about ESPN broadcasting all of these is that if a game’s an instant classic, it should be available to watch as a replay on ESPN+, provided you can figure out how to log in. So, having some feeds on mute isn’t going to be disastrous for our enjoyment long-term. Basketball happening across the country, guys. All at the same time. With single-elimination games accompanied by high stakes! This is what you will not be getting on Thursday or Friday. (The high stakes part.)
If you’re hosting an NIT watch party, as I hope many of you are, you will probably be asked if LSU’s Will Baker was on Texas’s 2019 NIT championship team. Not quite. He was still in high school for that one. Joined the UT program that fall.
As for North Texas…
They’re underdogs in this tournament, but they’re the defending champs for a reason. It’s going to be physical. The toughest team wins, as they like to say.
Xavier at Georgia – 7:00 PM EDT, ESPN
I know, I know, this game looks bad on paper. 33–33 combined record. But, uh…Quincy Olivari returning to his home state at the tail end of his college career? Des Claude playing basketball? Abou Ousmane, reigning champion himself? (He one hundred percent counts.) And that’s just Xavier! Georgia’s got young dudes all over the place, and they do silly and impressive things in equal quantities. This is going to be good.
A quick point, too:
For all the people saying nobody cares about the NIT because it’s now letting Xavier and Georgia in rather than giving the opportunities to smaller schools…
ESPN picked this to put on the flagship station. This is the premier game of the opening timeslot in their ratings forecasts. This is what average sports fans most want to watch. Is it what college basketball diehards want to watch? Not necessarily. But college basketball is niche, and part of the deal with March is that it has to cater to the mainstream in order to get it the resources which help keep it so fun for us the other months of the year. I get why you’re annoyed. I don’t begrudge you your annoyance. But a lot of people are going to watch this game.
Cornell at Ohio State – 7:00 PM EDT, ESPN2
It was a hell of an effort to get here from Ohio State. They’re the biggest favorite in the opening round. But Cornell is not a pushover. There are no pushovers in the NIT. Really! You would not call any of these teams a pushover in the regular season. Not one. Cornell went 2–3 this year against NCAA *ournament teams. And they’re the worst team in this tournament (on paper).
Chris Manon’s the focal point for the Big Red. Brian Earl’s the coach, and he’s been there for a while. They play fast. This has the highest potential of any game in the early hour. If it’s good, it’ll probably be great.
Kansas State at Iowa – 9:00 PM EDT, ESPN
The Game of the NITe. Tylor Perry vs. the House of McCaffery.
I’m glad I get to watch Tylor Perry play at least one more time. I like Fran McCaffery, I love Owen Freeman, I think Iowa’s going to play some great offensive basketball tonight, but I cannot hide that I would love to see Tylor Perry keep playing. The man is an icon. I am a little worried about his teammates showing up. Jerome Tang’s from the Scott Drew line, and that’s a good NIT lineage, but I don’t feel like I really know Jerome Tang yet and that makes me nervous. I know what Shaheen Holloway’s about. I know what to expect from Steve Forbes. Jerome Tang? More uncertain.
Hoping for a good crowd here. Back in 2013, Iowa fans were famously pretty rowdy in the first round. Something about the blue-hairs’ seats opening up to the general public.
Minnesota at Butler – 9:00 PM EDT, ESPNU
There were some rumors about Dawson Garcia transferring again, but he’s expected to play tonight, so if that’s coming, it’s not coming just yet. Butler had a tough run down the stretch, losing five straight at one point in February, but they played Xavier tough twice in their two most recent games, and as with Providence, no spring break here. Thad Matta’s hunting his second NIT trophy. Ben Johnson’s getting his first taste of the national postseason as a head coach.
South Florida at UCF – 9:00 PM EDT, ESPN+
The War on I-4 will not be televised.
It will be streamed, though.
South Florida carries a bit of mystery with them. How good are they, really? Ranked towards the end of the year, they lost two of their last three games, one against Tulsa and the other against UAB. Amir Abdur-Rahim did amazing stuff at Kennesaw State, and it’s been even more impressive so far in Tampa. (Because they actually made an NIT, unlike the Owls.) Where does this story go?
Meanwhile, Johnny Dawkins is in that weird, weird spot where everyone’s kind of subtly pushing UCF’s administration to not do something stupid. It would be very Johnny Dawkins era to start an NIT title run in the one untelevised NIT game of the first night.
Richmond at Virginia Tech – 9:00 PM EDT, ESPN2
Another in-state game!!!
Virginia Tech made a quick and quiet exit from this last year. We don’t often see that happen to teams two seasons in a row unless they really have some culture issues or they were underdogs both times. VT fits neither of those descriptions. Good luck, Richmond.
Richmond brings a senior-heavy lineup across the state to Blacksburg. A-10 champions, getting after it again. Keep an eye on Jordan King, whose A-10 co-player of the year award was a joke but is still a very good player. Expect VT’s offense to look a little off. That’s kind of how it goes with the Richmond defense. It’s not intense as much as it is just consistently and quietly good. An ankle weight for the other team.
UC Irvine at Utah – 11:00 PM EDT, ESPN2
Tonight’s only standalone game has the potential for magnificence. Remember what we said about teams not losing NIT openers consecutively unless they’re underdogs? UC Irvine fell in the first round last year. Got smoked by Oregon.
(To be clear: That was not a shot at all at Toledo. We like Toledo a lot. Just touch matchups for them.)
The Anteaters are another of those teams that just sticks with you and sticks on you. Might have some issues with Utah’s height on the glass, but Utah has the risk of playing too much outside ball and failing to seize that opportunity? Long story short, UC Irvine is not one of those Cinderellas who’s fun to watch because of the way they play. They’re fun to watch because they’re the Anteaters and they say Zot and their overall vibe is one of dashing gallantry.
Utah’s pretty fun. Watched a good bit of them back when we thought Mick Cronin was making an NIT push and didn’t hate us (wrong on both counts). Branden Carlson is an NIT MVP contender, provided he’s at full health. (If he plays, double credit to him, because he was a game-time decision against ASU just six days ago.)
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That’s it for the action tonight. We’ll be back tomorrow to recap and look ahead to Day 2. Bona NIT, friends. Bona NIT. It’s all just getting started.
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