Apologies to Tennessee (you tried), but nothing great last night in hoops, but that’s ok. We’re all about the future here. And the future—the immediate future, specifically—looks great.
Game of the NITe of the Day
Back when I thought I’d have more than one note for today (that’s really it—I only have one note, slow news day, this is kind of great), I thought I’d write this first because of this weird sensation I have that you guys read things at the same pace I write them, which is of course not true. In my head, writing something before the game tips is effective even if I don’t click publish in time, and that’s without even accounting for the fact most of you are not waiting on pins and needles for all sets of notes. No, most of you will probably not read this until the Game of the NITe of the Day is finished. That’s ok, though, because it isn’t on TV anyway. It’s too good for TV (it was scheduled too late).
In 32 minutes (I’m writing this first draft at 12:28 PM CST), Loyola is playing San Francisco at what appears to be the gym of a community college in the south suburbs of Salt Lake City. It’s a game with massive NIT implications, with the winner’s path much foggier and the loser’s path relatively clear. This will likely be the last team of clear NIT quality Loyola plays. San Francisco is the NIT favorite. Stakes are the highest they’ve probably ever been in that gym at that community college in the south suburbs of Salt Lake City, though I admit I’m not well-versed in the history of Lifetime Activities Center – Bruin Arena.
This game came together because of Covid cancelations. Loyola hasn’t played since December 10th. San Francisco hasn’t played since they put up 111 on the Academy of Art last Tuesday. The fact they scheduled it at a neutral court and that someone knew someone with the keys to Bruin Arena at the Lifetime Activities Center and that they were able to move the dodgeball PE class presumably scheduled for the same time (and in presumably syllabus week, no less) makes this more logistically impressive than the time those teams tried to play hoops on an aircraft carrier, or the time those teams tried to play hoops in China and LiAngelo Ball got arrested. The result of this game matters, but more than that it’s a testament to how hard these teams worked to get a game on the calendar at all. Kirk Herbstreit’s gotta be so proud.
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Viewing schedule…well, I don’t know of any stream of the Loyola/USF game, WAIT! UPDATE! YOU CAN WATCH! It’s streaming on the WCC Network, online for free. Also allegedly at something called ScenicWestNetwork dot com but that sounds like a place you get viruses. 1:00 PM Texas Time. On your computer. You don’t work anyway.
Well, my afternoon just changed. We got that, then we got a big one between UAB and North Texas tonight (7:00 PM Texas Time, CBSSN), then we got a medium one between SMU and Cincinnati (8:30 PM Texas Time, ESPN), then we got the beloved Thursday night tradition where we all rip the heads off of our Andy Enfield voodoo dolls while watching USC play (at Cal, 10:00 PM Texas Time, FS1). Godspeed.
