People like to say that college sports are unfair to mid-majors. They point to FAU’s exclusion from the 2024 NIT, or High Point’s exclusion from the 2024 NIT, or Belmont’s exclusion from the 2021 NIT. They look at the FCS playoffs and question the NEC never getting home games in the first round. They point out how we never pay attention to the sports the Ivy League is good at, like crew and fencing and interviewing for investment banking internships. People like to say that the world of college sports conspires against the little guy, instead favoring the SEC and the Big Ten and evidently the Mountain West because ACC and Big East fans seem pissed at the MWC right now.
I’m not convinced that college sports aren’t unfair to mid-majors. I’m not trying to hash out the entirety of that argument this afternoon. But I will offer this, as a counterpoint:
Ohio State and Georgia are playing tonight in the quarterfinal round of college sports’ biggest event.
That game is decidedly the undercard.
Getting the attention in its place?
A matchup between Indiana State and a school who just one year ago was in a conference lacking standard nomenclature.*
Say what you will about the whole of college sports. The industry’s crown jewel, the National Invitation Tournament, has plenty of room for the little guy.
*Is it the American? Is it the AAC? Is it the Lost Big East?
**
ToNITe:
Georgia at Ohio State – 7:00 PM EDT, ESPN
The report from Columbus is “full strength.” The implication? All three of Bruce Thornton, Roddy Gayle Jr., and Scotty Middleton are available tonight to do those things they do. We know Ohio State’s story well. They began the season with a real NIT path, shot themselves in the foot with an early beatdown of Alabama, and then slowly clawed back into it, briefly flirting with missing the NIT on the lower end before trying the 2022 Xavier approach, but a little early: Fire the head coach and replace him with an interim who is evidently better at winning games.
Since Jake Diebler took over as Ohio State’s interim coach, the Buckeyes are 8–2. Since Diebler was promoted to full-time head man, that number is 2–0. Ohio State has never lost a game with Jake Diebler as its full head coach. Perfection is on the line tonight in the city Dave Thomas built.
Opposing them is the tournament’s Cinderella, a tiny little basketball brand from near the Appalachian foothills named the University of Georgia. The deal with Georgia this season has been that Mike White keeps throwing different combinations of players at the court, and every now and then, it works out really well. These guys swept Wake Forest. They beat Florida State in Tallahassee. They started SEC play 4–2. Did they also lose some games? Oh goodness yes, they lost so many games, they’re still only 19–16 heading into this quarterfinal tilt. But the point is that you never know what you’re getting from Georgia, and there’s always a chance it’ll be something good. Justin Hill went off on Sunday in Winston-Salem.
From what we’re seeing, Russel Tchewa and Jabri Abdur-Rahim are both out for the Bulldogs. Also no word on whether Uga made the journey. Remember when the Ohio Bobcat tackled Brutus? Now imagine that from an adorable bulldog.
Cincinnati at Indiana State – 9:00 PM EDT, ESPN
The big one.
The Keynote in Terre Haute. (That was the best we could do.)
Indiana State has been the people’s champion ever since the people learned what Robbie Avila looks like and how deft Robbie Avila is with the ball. I know Cream Abdul-Jabbar is the funniest of the man’s nicknames (and plays well against Jizzle James tonight), but I prefer White Jokić. But Stu, you ask, Is Nikola Jokić not also white? That’s why I prefer it! Also, Avila’s play does resemble Jokić’s more than Kareem’s, even if the goggles are a clear link to the 0-time NIT appearer.
Avila’s been a little off with the shotmaking in this tournament so far and he still has seven assists in each game. Indiana State’s offense runs through Robbie Avila, and since the NIT runs through Terre Haute and college sports kingship runs through the NIT, I think that means the entire world has to get past Robbie Avila if it wants to achieve anything at all. Robbie Avila is the doorman to all our hopes and dreams. Thankfully, many of our hopes and dreams involve him.
Receiving those dishes from the big man? Ryan Conwell. Xavier Bledson. Jayson Kent. We haven’t seen Isaiah Swope or Julian Larry at their best yet, but Indiana State’s still 2–0 with the best point differential of anyone in the tournament. The Sycamores have options.
Cincinnati’s in a stranger spot. Day Day Thomas broke his foot, but Jizzle James—son of longtime Colts running back Edgerrin James—has blossomed before our eyes, dropping 25 on Bradley on Saturday in one of the best performances of the entire college basketball season (when you account for the meaning of the game, of course). Simas Lukosius is shooting the lights out. Dan Skillings remains a steady man for Wes Miller’s team. And while Viktor Lakhin’s status remains mysterious, Aziz Bandaogo—whom NIT fans know well for his athletic exploits in the quarterfinal round last year against Cincinnati (Bandaogo played for Utah Valley)—will provide an electric foil to Avila in the paint. Aziz Bandaogo might be the most physically exciting player in the sport of college basketball. His name is also very fun to say.
It’s a regional rivalry, igniting for what could be the first time. It’s the last stop for both teams on a long, grueling march towards Hinkle Fieldhouse. It’s the biggest game any of us have ever witnessed during our time upon this earth.
It’s the Game of the NITe of the Century.
**
What to know if you’re still alive in the NIT Bracket Challenge, or if you are simply a massive NIT Bracket Challenge fan:
Entering the quarterfinals, 521 of our 1,011 entries still have their champion alive. In order:
- Ohio State: 179 brackets (17.8%)
- Indiana State: 163 brackets (16.2%)
- Seton Hall: 71 brackets (7.1%)
- Cincinnati: 65 brackets (6.5%)
- Utah: 15 brackets (1.5%)
- UNLV: 14 brackets (1.4%)
- Georgia: 8 brackets (0.8%)
- VCU: 6 brackets (0.6%)
On the celebrity scoreboard, you may notice that I picked Cincinnati to win it all and that my dog, Fargo, picked Indiana State. We have been at odds all day. I took a comforter to the laundromat earlier because my parents are visiting for the eclipse in two weeks (and I will be gone next week) and when I got home, Fargo hit me in the right nut with her paw and proceeded to try to rip the comforter from my grasp. Earlier in the morning, she took a big shit next to the sidewalk then looked at me as though it was my job to pick it up. It was my job. She rules this house. Indiana State’s got defiant vibes behind it.
