Kentucky is making another NIT approach. It’s quite the approach, too. They opened the season in most people’s national top ten. They just lost to a team who’s rebuilding after missing the NIT a bunch of years in a row. At home. They lost to South Carolina at home. This team is a mess, through and through, and their initial perch was high enough that this leaves them, however briefly, with us.
That brevity is the problem. We don’t think Kentucky has staying power. When you tumble, you don’t always level out. Sometimes, you bounce back. Most of the time, you keep tumbling. Rarely do you arrive at a nice ledge midway down the cliff and spend the rest of your life there. Not that I’m a tumbling expert, or anything, but I am an NIT expert, and that’s how it works in our corner of the world.
So, yes, we’ll enjoy this brief dalliance with Kentucky, and we’ll hope to keep it going, and if they show up in an NIT Bracketology we’ll hype the hell out of it because that drives consumer engagement. But we don’t think they’re going to be good enough. This is going one way unless it goes another, and neither of those directions leads to a spot in our narrow, selective window.
I Still Believe in Wyoming
I learned last night that Wyoming is 5-11. I didn’t realize this. I knew Wyoming was having a bad time, but I didn’t realize the time was this bad. I thought they maybe were at a party where they didn’t know anybody but the very busy host. I didn’t realize that they’d been abducted by masked mercenaries and were being held for ransom.
Still, I buy the Cowboys, and this is how I’m justifying it:
I kind of remember that last year’s NIT committee picked teams with good KenPom ratings, and that’s an easier thing to fix quickly than your whole résumé.
Comeback starts Saturday. Or Tuesday. Or maybe next Saturday. (No, no, it probably has to start Saturday, I’m starting to accept reality. I’m just not there yet. Give me a moment with my grief.)
Joe Kelly News
Joe Kelly won the White Sox’ fantasy football league (he said on The Score yesterday that he offered Yasmani Grandal a chance to split the pot but Grandal took his chances on Bengals/Bills resuming and also going his way, even though that was only a 50/50 proposition entering the night, which is very concerning when it comes to Grandal’s pitch calling judgment, which in turn might be something to keep an eye on). Since the buy-in was five figures, he probably won six. We’re psyched for our guy. Good work, Joe.
In less happy news, Ashley Kelly posted a long Instagram story last night about something the Kelly family’s been going through. Evidently back in September, right after Joe Kelly came back from that family medical leave (which was because of RSV with the twins, it turned out, but I think they’re fully healthy again now), his brother Chris was hit by a driver going the wrong way on the interstate in Idaho, near Spokane. His car was destroyed, he broke his leg and jaw, he suffered a traumatic brain injury (to say the least). He’s making progress, and he’s currently a client at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago, but that’s very expensive, even for fantasy football champions. So, Ashley Kelly put up a GoFundMe link. It’s in her Instagram bio. Her Instagram is public and she has more than twenty thousand followers, so I think it’s ok to share this, and since we’re the biggest known Joe Kelly community on The Internet™, we thought we should pass it along. Best wishes to Chris, and of course to the rest of the family. What hell to go through. Thank God he’s alive.
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Our evening course of action:
7:00 PM EST: College of Charleston @ UNC-Wilmington (FloHoops)
There’s a giant line outside the arena in Wilmington, this could decide the CAA regular season title, both these teams are capable of winning a game in the NIT, that’s enough for me. It’s the Game of the NITe. If you line up outside an arena for a game where both teams would be underdogs against Bradley, I’m in. (Also, FloHoops? A nice touch, stylistically.)
7:00 PM EST: Memphis @ UCF (ESPN+)
This is another big one, with some—not me, but some, and you know possibly me (I’d like to keep my options open) but not currently me—saying the loser deserves to be the NIT favorite. Both teams have impressed so far with their ability to be pretty good and also aim very closely to the bubble, which is the hardest thing to do as an NIT team. UCF still has to demonstrate staying power, though. This isn’t 2017, guys. We aren’t going to hand it to you because we adore your center.
7:00 PM EST: Indiana @ Penn State (BTN)
9:00 PM EST: Rutgers @ Northwestern (BTN)
Another fun night from the Big Ten, but with concerning good-win potential for both home teams. Lot of teams wanting to lose tonight. I have to admit that this is a thing that’s happening. I blame the continued NCAA occupation.
7:00 PM EST: Pitt @ Duke (ACCN)
Hey, here’s a fun one. Every meeting between Jeff Capel and Duke feels like a backroom dinner in a mafia movie. And this one comes with steaks! Or should I say…stakes. NIT stakes.
11:00 PM EST: Boise State @ UNLV (CBSSN)
The Mountain West is dominating late-night programming. Dominating it. Look at this game! How are our children supposed to sleep?
6:30 PM EST: Mississippi State @ Georgia (SECN)
7:00 PM EST: Virginia Tech @ Syracuse (ESPN+)
8:30 PM EST: Missouri @ Texas A&M (SECN)
Good action here, but a little on the bland side (go with me, I’m trying to incite a Buzz Williams ejection).
7:00 PM EST: UConn @ Marquette (CBSSN)
9:00 PM EST: TCU @ Texas (ESPN2)
Why do these two teams keep playing on the same nights?
8:00 PM EST: Tulane @ SMU (ESPN+)
Again: Wyoming’s safe for now with me. Tulane is not, though. Tulane has to win this. Lose, and I finally get to quit them. STOP HAVING A MOMENT, TULANE. IT ISN’T FUN FOR ME ANYMORE. I WANT OUT.
7:00 PM EST: Bulls @ Wizards (League Pass)
Oh also the Bulls.
