Let’s get notating.
The Game of the NITe of the Day Lived Up to the Hype
San Francisco/Loyola was a great game, and not just because the WCC’s livestream failed in its biggest moment (it’s fun, in these scenarios, to personify the WCC’s servers and imagine their initial delight and then sheer terror as the views [and then attempted views] kept coming). It was a great game because of so much more than the WCC livestream crash (though again, that was great). It was a great game because of that, yes, but also because: 1) it was close, 2) it was good basketball, and 3) it was meaningful for the NIT. Four things, altogether. Four great things.
Loyola’s route is definitely a bit more complicated now, but overall, it’s simple: Lose to a couple bad Missouri Valley teams. Take your pick. San Francisco’s is still a fairly conventional bubble path (this is why the Dons are our current NIT favorite), with the added benefit that they can still play the no-good-wins card if they so choose. Well done to all involved, but mostly to Salt Lake Community College for putting on the event. SLCC will always be an NIT Friend.
Game of the NITe of the Weekend
Sorry, Colorado State/San Diego State, but you’re going up against Arkansas and Texas A&M here. Eric Musselman coaching against Buzz Williams at a school that would currently be ecstatic to make the NIT? I’m drooling. Game’s at noon tomorrow Texas Time, and it’s on SEC Network (more NIT games of note below, in this weekend’s viewing schedule).
The Proxy War Continues
Shaka Smart’s Marquette has a tricky one tonight at Georgetown. Texas’s Texas has a tricky one tomorrow at Oklahoma State. The highest of pressure on each (that is not at all true there are things called wars in this world).
You Say F, I Say A
Forget about the FA Cup? Me too. Burnley hosts Huddersfield Town tomorrow. Sean Dyche is out with Covid. 6:30 AM kickoff, Texas Time. Broadcast on ESPN+ (I initially typed “ESPN9” by mistake but it is by no means in the top nine bits of ESPN programming at that time, even considering the early hour). This is the Round of 64. 64 soccer teams remain in England as the round begins.
In other Burnley news, the Watford match has been rescheduled for mid-January, while Maxwel Cornet’s abroad playing in the Africa Cup of Nations. How you feel about this depends on how you feel about 1) whether the game will get called off again, 2) whether you think another game was going in that slot or not, and 3) whether you think Burnley’s goal right now is just avoiding relegation or if it’s to finish as high in the table as possible. With the third, there’s an angle where having Cornet for a better opponent than Watford could help scrape out an extra point, but you still need to beat Watford, so…
The Senators Are Going to…Play?
Allegedly, the Senators are going to play in Vancouver tomorrow night at 9:00 PM Texas Time (on ESPN+). The word is that Anton Forsberg’s still out, but Thomas Chabot is back (I missed that he was out, consider this my accountability). This would be the Senators’ second game since December 18th. The Senators have played just 29 games, with the league average above 33, one team having played 37, and the Sens still ahead of the Canadiens in the standings. The playoff chances remain nonexistent, but the Senators could still well find their way to playing hockey in June.
Fargo, Milk, Fargo
The FCS National Championship is tomorrow at 11:00 AM Texas Time, up in Frisco. North Dakota State plays Montana State. Great vibes from both programs, with one thick and the other scrappy. Game’s on ESPN2. I almost missed this despite being scared of missing it for weeks now. It’s very easy to miss the FCS National Championship.
In other big news, I wrote some positive milk jokes and a squirrel stole Fargo’s bread.
***
Alright, viewing schedule time for the NIT fan in the room:
Tonight, it’s all about Marquette. Game tips in D.C. at 5:30 PM Texas Time on FS1. Nothing big after that. You can catch the end of Milwaukee/Detroit Mercy on ESPN2 when it’s done, but neither of those teams appears to be a clear factor in the HoLo’s auto-bid race.
It’s good that tonight’s got an early bedtime, because tomorrow, you need to steal someone’s login and you need to do it by 6:30 AM (all these times are Texas Time I’m going to stop saying that and if you don’t know what time zone I’m in Texas is in Central Time). Burnley doesn’t need this win over Huddersfield Town to avoid relegation, but they need it for vibes, and the reserves will be playing which isn’t fun or unfun it just kind of amps up the degree of difficulty a bit.
After Burnley does its thing, you have two and a half hours. Then, it’s on. St. John’s is at Providence at 11:00 AM on FS1, and when we’re done with the first half there, as established, we’re going to SEC Network at noon for the Game of the NITe of the Weekend. When that’s over, one hour to grab lunch (after watching any last-minute drama in Frisco, of course) before Colorado State/San Diego State on CBS at 3:00. How did the Mountain West get this game on CBS? I don’t know. I am neither the Mountain West nor am I CBS and there’s no way either would divulge that secret, because it definitely involves blackmail. When that’s over, Northern Iowa/Missouri State at 5:00. Pretty close to a must-win for the Bears, and did you know Dana Ford is coaching the Bears? Arguably more important games on at 5:00, but should be a good atmosphere. Also yes I just got Dana Ford confused with Travis Ford. Dana Ford’s a nobody. Sorry, Dana Ford. Travis Ford is still at SLU. Not a nobody but I mean he kind of is. Nationally? Nobody. Regionally? Nobody. In college basketball? Not a nobody but also not a somebody. In the NITetime, Louisville’s going to Tallahassee, and I need you to say Tallahassee the way you think Alan Rogers would say it but then dial it back about fifty percent in accent while keeping the energy high. Shit. No. Alan Jackson. I am off today. Need to eat lunch. That game’s at 7:00. ESPN2. At 9:00, it’s Saint Mary’s/BYU and it’s conveniently also on ESPN2. What a Saturday, guys. What a Saturday. Even got time to watch the end of the Sens game once things are done in Provo.
Sunday, sleep in. And/or go to church. We aren’t going to church enough. That’s why God imposed the NCAA on us (and its “tournament”). Minnesota doesn’t play Indiana until 11:00 (on Big Ten Network, obviously), and it doesn’t matter that much anyway because neither of these teams has a good NIT shot, so please, go to church. If you’re killing time between that and Cincy/Memphis (2:30, ABC, Game of the NITe of the Sunday Afternoon), Harvard is playing Yale at 1:00 on ESPNU, and you haven’t yelled “NERDS” at a TV for ninety straight minutes in much too long. At 4:30, Ohio State hosts Northwestern (BTN again, duh), so dial up all your favorite Northwestern-2022-NIT debates, but then turn it off at 6:00, because we’re grabbing that ESPN+ password again if they haven’t changed it and we’re watching Montana/Montana State. After that, if we all agree to it (and only if we all agree to it), we can watch the end of Wisconsin/Maryland on BTN (obviously obviously obviously why do I even have to write this I mean the conference’s name is right there in the channel name), but you have to finish your thank you notes before bed, still, and we are NOT staying up late because we can’t send you cranky to homeroom on Monday again.
Have a good weekend. I will see you on Monday. You better not be cranky.
