Notes! We’re writin’ ‘em.
No, Purdue and Rutgers Are Not NIT-Relevant
The big college basketball news from last night was that Purdue did the 2007-college-football thing and coughed up the number one ranking immediately upon receiving it, losing on what was basically a half-court shot by Ron Harper’s kid (who is also named Ron Harper in an act I can only assume is a long play with tax evasion intent, which is what I assume every time a child is named after their father). It was fun, it was exciting, nobody should care about it at all because even if it was possible to make the NIT out of the Big Ten, neither of these teams would be in the running. Get out of my face.
Yes, Iowa State and Iowa Are NIT-Relevant
I’m not positive about the Hawkeyes (the Big Ten thing, mostly), but the Cyclones certainly are (I’m all for supporting my friend Joe, and ISU’s getting close to getting out of NITerritory, but every team they’ve beaten can be described as either “bad” or “having significant problems” or both). Respect on the big win, now let’s see you go 5-13 in Big 12 play and go win the whole darn thing. That should be the goal.
Jury’s Out on Texas
It gives me no (a little) joy to report that Chris Beard’s Texas team is perfectly fine. They’re great at holding low-majors below 50 points and have yet to beat a team half as good as the 2020-21 Abilene Christian Wildcats (everyone’s named the Wildcats, that name is so stupid, there should be a cap on how many Wildcats are allowed into various postseason tournaments, just my opinion), which…does that sound familiar? Does that sound like something Beard’s predecessor was capable of pulling off? Interesting. Just…interesting. Hmm.
Shaka Smart vs. Mick Cronin, Not Where You’d Expect
On a related note, let’s take a moment to appreciate the fact that Shaka Smart and Mick Cronin will coach against one another tomorrow in a UCLA/Marquette game, and that contrary to every law of nature, Cronin will be coaching UCLA and Smart will be coaching Marquette. What a world. (Also please note that Shaka Smart is expected to beat Seton Hall once this year, which will be once more than Beard. Just…interesting. Hmm.)
NIT Game of the Weekend
There are a few contenders for this, but when you look at the schedule and see that BYU will be playing Creighton at 11:00 AM local time at the Sanford Pentagon, everything is but a Rosaline to Romeo’s Juliet. What a game. I might cry at the beauty.
FCS Quarters
The FCS quarterfinals are here, and here’s a quick preview from a guy who watched a ton of FCS football three years ago and loves the city of Fargo:
Montana @ James Madison – Friday, 7:00 PM EST; ESPN2
The Griz are the coolest FCS program, the Dukes are the most reasonably ambitious FCS program. While North Dakota State hasn’t found its opportunity to jump to the FBS ranks yet, JMU’s found a path into the Sun Belt, and they’re taking it, and if you’re located anywhere between basically New York City, Port-au-Prince, El Paso, and Indianapolis (the Sun Belt’s polygon of relevance), that’s a path you always take. This is their final year in the FCS playoffs, with bowl eligibility in the FBS not a possibility until 2024. Two-year purgatory incoming.
Anyway, JMU’s a decent favorite (eight points, per the ESPN app), but again, Montana’s the classic here. Our hearts are with Montana. Sorry, JMU friends.
East Tennessee State @ North Dakota State – Saturday, 12:00 PM EST; ESPN
*growling ferociously*
Sorry, NDSU gets me fired up. Great season for ETSU, but NDSU’s a four-score favorite. They’re so back. So, so back. You punks. You little punks. Bison time.
South Dakota State @ Villanova – Saturday, 2:00 PM EST; ESPN+
I think this is Nova’s best year since the Matt Szczur era. I think this is SDSU’s best year since last year. So often the bridesmaid, SDSU’s favored to get to the semi’s, even playing on the road. There, they’d face the winner of…
Montana State @ Sam Houston State – Saturday, 8:30 PM EST; ESPN+
Montana State’s the other coolest FCS program (What? Montana’s cool.) and gets to play an overrated-as-Coach-K Sam Houston State program that, like James Madison, is on its way out of the FCS, but unlike James Madison isn’t headed anywhere setting them up for sustained success (they’re going to Conference USA). It might work out (Nacogdoches is a cool enough name for a city that I’m betting on it working out OH WAIT I was thinking of Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston State’s in Huntsville and therefore screwed), but it’s not as obvious of a move for SHSU. The Bearkats (yes, that’s a k) haven’t lost a game since 2019, but they haven’t exactly been playing an MVFC schedule and almost half those games were spring games, which are traditionally scrimmages (that’s true, you know). Let’s leave it at that.
F1: Championship Time
I feel like F1 calls other things championships, because that seems like a thing they’d do, but the season championship’s on Sunday, and it’s a great script. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton enter tied in the standings. Winner wins it all.
Hamilton’s looking for his fifth straight driver’s championship and his seventh in the last eight years. He’s dominant, but he’s also suave, and he’s one of auto racing’s best drivers of all time.
Verstappen’s looking for his first championship ever. Much younger than Hamilton, the Dutchman is clunky socially, prone to rage, and could eventually go down as one of auto racing’s best drivers of all time. First, though, he needs to get that first title, and while he nearly had it locked up a few weeks ago, he hasn’t been able to shut the door.
Hamilton drives for Mercedes. Verstappen drives for Red Bull. The principals on those teams (kind of like a NASCAR crew chief, but more powerful, if I understand correctly) are Toto Wolff and Christian Horner, respectively, and they don’t like each other, just like Hamilton and Verstappen don’t like each other. There is bad blood everywhere, and given that F1’s a dumb organization that’s great at marketing and terrible at being a sport, there’s a good chance we come out of Sunday with the loser whining about something or other because everything in F1 rulings is subjective and, I assume, corrupt. Strong FIFA vibes from F1. Fight me.
Anyway, qualifying’s tomorrow morning at about 8:00 AM EST on ESPN2, and the Grand Prix is Sunday morning, also at about 8:00 AM EST on ESPN2.
RIP Al Unser
While we’re on open-wheel racing, Al Unser passed away yesterday in his home state of New Mexico at the age of 82. Unser is one of four men to have won four Indy 500’s. Rest in peace, and comfort to all who mourn.
The Sens Cut Uncle Delly
Moving from wheels to blades (talking skates, they didn’t do any physical cutting but I wouldn’t put it past a desperate Dorion), the Senators have waived Michael Del Zotto, making their AHL payroll one of the highest in the league. Presumably a good move, but a bummer that it didn’t work out, since his teammates seemed primed to like him. Sens game tomorrow at 1:00 PM EST. They host the Lightning. The Tampa Bay Lightning. Not, you know, literal lightning. That’d be terrifying all cooped up in one arena. I shudder to imagine it. Everyone would die, right? ESPN+ with the broadcast. Jacob Bernard-Docker is back up with the team, replacing Lassi Thomson, but I’m not sure who’ll be active on the third defensive pairing tomorrow (Heatherington and Mete were paired together at practice today).
Burnley’s Got West Ham
Burnley hosts West Ham on Sunday morning at 9:00 AM EST on Peacock Premium. Ben Mee and Maxwel Cornet are both unlikely to play, with Mee dealing with a shoulder injury and Cornet dealing with something with his thigh. Burnley’s about even odds to at least get a point, and with Watford losing today at the buzzer to Brentford and the pair of Newcastle (at Leicester) and Norwich (vs. Man U) each rather likely to lose, a point could pull the Clarets one ahead of the bottom duo and within two of Watford for the bottom-most spot outside the relegation zone. Watford goes to Burnley on Wednesday night, making this a huge pair. Park that bus, fellas. Get that point. Or, you know, Burnley ‘em and steal a win.
I Lost All My Snapchat Friends
Finally, in personal news, a phone transition led to me needing a new Snapchat account, which means those five or six dozen people I was sending #MilkTime snaps back in 2018 are gone from my phone. The era ended long ago, but now even the traces are gone. We still have the memories, though, and ambitions of a milky return in 2022.
***
Viewing schedule for the weekend goes…
- Montana/James Madison tonight on the gridiron.
- BYU/Creighton tomorrow at 11:00 Texas Time, followed by the Sens at noon (hoping the BYU/Creighton game has no dead balls), followed by UCLA vs. Shaka Smart, followed by parts of Bonnies/UConn, Kentucky/Notre Dame, TCU/A&M, Cincy/Xavier, and Houston/Bama but only because I like it when games tip at 9:00 PM local time in a displa of the raw power of television.
- Sunday, we’ve got F1 at dawn followed by Burnley (I still don’t have Peacock so I’ll probably just go to church to do my part) followed by FSU/South Carolina, Virginia Tech/Dayton, Florida/Maryland, and the battle for New Jersey (I’m assuming that’s what we call Rutgers/Seton Hall).
Huge weekend, friends. You have your marching orders. Now go execute.
