F1’s back today—we’re a little late on getting these up, so no real preview from us, but it’s on ESPN and we’ll recap it tomorrow. Now, what everybody’s here to know:
(Sean) Miller Time
Did Xavier bring Sean Miller in to try to get them through the NIT? I don’t think so. I think they probably brought him in more for his impact in future years. But if they didn’t, and if this is them seizing an NIT chance while they’ve got it, well, it’s about time. Once you’re in the NIT is the perfect time to bring in a slimy coach who can win games, and ideally, Sean Miller will be on the sidelines today, and then ideally ideally, Xavier will get sanctions in a few years and have to vacate this NIT title.
Previews for today’s games (recycling from yesterday, and no, we’re not going to change Xavier’s to reflect everything we just talked about; we copied, we pasted, we’re moving on):
Florida @ Xavier – 1:00 PM EDT, ESPN
Florida’s got a brand new coach, and Xavier doesn’t yet. Do you think the Xavier players will feel bad about themselves? I mean, Todd Golden won’t be there, I don’t think, but the parallel here is to two kids’ moms setting up a playdate while the moms get to talk about the pain of being divorced, but then one of the moms just got engaged again, and now it’s all kinds of awkward. Woof. Poor Xavier. At least it’s at their house so they know all the good bathrooms to go cry in if they’re feeling down.
Washington State @ SMU – 3:00 PM EDT, ESPN+
Game of the NITe of the Weekend right here. Wazzu’s looking to establish itself as a contender, Kyle Smith’s looking for his first signature win as the Cougars’ head man, SMU is feeling forgotten…very curious what the vibe will be. Will SMU dig in and start playing hard, as we often see from top seeds in these second round games? Will Washington State do one thing terribly badly and have it shoot them in the foot? All things are possible with the NIT.
Dayton @ Vanderbilt – 3:00 PM EDT, ESPN2
The Flyers’ road show continues in Nashville. Another one where we just really don’t know what to expect. Dayton looked good on Wednesday. Vanderbilt looked good on Tuesday, though. Both teams are clicking at the perfect time. Didn’t do it too early, didn’t do it too late…well done to all involved. Celebration of NIT season-redemption arcs right here.
Virginia @ North Texas – 6:00 PM EDT, ESPN+
You’ve heard about it for days now. The two slowest-paced teams in the country squaring off in Denton.
Do you remember C.J. Fiedorowicz? Used to play for the Texans? Fiedorowicz grew up in McHenry County in Illinois, where I grew up, and he played at Johnsburg, and he was even more of a manchild in middle school than he was the rest of his life. Those were peak manchild days for that manchild.
Anyway, when Johnsburg played in the eighth grade Fox Valley Conference championship that relevant year, whoever they played, might have been Cary, just tried holding the ball. Stalling. It didn’t work—they lost something like 20 to 8—but it was the talk of the barber shops.
The shot clock sucks.
St. Bonaventure @ Oklahoma – 8:00 PM EDT, ESPNU
The preseason and early-season NIT favorite against the current NIT favorite. Hardly anything more one can say. The Bonnies are, like Dayton, putting on a road show, but Oklahoma seems like a tougher spot than Colorado for an NIT second round game. Maybe not first round, with the altitude, but second round? The crowd starts showing up in the second round, and there’s a reason Oklahoma jumped through a couple hoops to keep this game at home.
Yesterday’s Action
There were games yesterday, too, and they happened, and nothing too surprising went down. Really chalky NIT so far. Makes you wonder if the fates are up to something. Texas A&M will host Wake Forest in a quarterfinal. BYU will either travel to SMU or host Washington State. Oregon and VCU and Northern Iowa are done.
The Sens Did the Expected
Remember, dear friends, when the Canadiens being so bad and the Senators being not-quite-as-bad was a cause for great merriment and joy?
Lost 5-1 in Montréal last night. Nothing great, rough night for Filip Gustavsson, we move on.
We’ll see what tomorrow’s trade deadline brings, the only real question is Nick Paul, which isn’t that big a question. Extend him or trade him, either’s good.
IndyCar at Texas
IndyCar’s in Fort Worth today (12:45 PM EDT, NBC), and I get that IndyCar does ovals, but I don’t get why, besides the Indy 500. The Indy 500 makes sense. The rest of the oval races don’t. We are cheering for life, as we always do when IndyCar’s at Texas.
NASCAR at Atlanta
New configuration at Atlanta—repaved, with high banking to try to make the racing more wide-open and superspeedway-like. Could be a good time, small possibility of disaster (as there is anytime NASCAR tries something new but especially when they try to make something wilder), we have more faith in NASCAR to keep drivers alive than we do in IndyCar to do the same, so we wouldn’t mind a chaotic day. Green flag at 3:17 PM EDT on FOX.
