We’re back in Texas (great news—no new conflict with Virginian authority), and we’ve got a lot to catch up on. Let’s hit it:
Horns in Distress
Texas lost to Kansas on Saturday night. At home. To fall to 4-6. The Longhorns are probably going to miss a bowl game, the Longhorn faithful are in disarray, and if you’re the Big 12, do you let Texas go to the SEC right now to see if they finish 1-11 next year?
There’s been some talk that I cursed Texas in an act of vengeance for their treatment of Shaka Smart. I addressed the matter, and the question of making Austin a football town, in this week’s Bevo’s Fake Nuts.
Shaka Smart 4, Texas 2
I don’t even have to take a point away from Texas for football here.
So far under Chris Beard, the Longhorns have comfortable wins against Houston Baptist and Northern Colorado and a noncompetitive loss at Gonzaga. So far under Shaka Smart, Marquette has uncomfortable wins over SIU-Edwardsville and New Hampshire, a narrow comeback victory over Mississippi last night in Charleston, and a stunning upset of NIT non-factor Illinois. The results speak for themselves (until we possibly have to find something else to speak on their behalf).
On a serious note, Marquette’s having a blast right now, and Coach Smart seems to be having a great time himself. He’s got the domino bit going. His players seem bought-in. There’s a lot of season left, but this is one of the youngest teams in the country, and so far they’re playing great hoops. Big one against West Virginia today in the Charleston Classic semifinals. St. Bonaventure and Clemson are on the other side of the bracket.
Your NIT Favorites
Speaking of the Bonnies, we’re still going to call them the NIT favorites even though they look solid so far and the Atlantic 10 looks great, which traditionally isn’t a recipe for NIT success. Our line of thinking here is that they’re the favorites in this Charleston tournament, and if they win it, they’re going to jump in the polls, and there’s then a pretty clear path for them to get to something like 17-2 before closing by losing half their games. They have a passionate-enough fanbase that this would be cataclysmic, and they have a good-enough team that they could then probably go on a run in March, with the fans dutifully behind them up in Olean. The vibes are there, friends.
Other NIT Happenings
2020 NIT darling Boise State’s only 1-2 so far, having lost to the Bonnies and the Anteaters, both of which sound like nicknames I would use in a children’s book about a middle school town basketball league. Perennial NIT factor NC State’s off to a perfect 3-1 start. Can’t play too poorly in nonconference if you’re going to make the NIT out of a good league. Or the ACC. Florida State’s getting a little NIT hype for losing to Florida and taking a moral loss to Tulane, but Leonard Hamilton’s probably going to figure that out. Notre Dame’s looking the NIT part so far, just kind of putzing along. Mike Brey and the NIT Final Four would be a blast. If you’re looking for Friendsgiving conversation this weekend, ask if the Big East can put six teams in the NIT, then grill your friends on what they think between Georgetown and DePaul for the sixth. If Oregon State gets to the NIT and then gets smacked I’m going to have a great time comparing that to their “Elite” Eight run last season. Oregon lost by 32 to BYU the other night, which is an NIT move. Creighton struggled to beat Nebraska, which is also an NIT move. Virginia keeps looking awesome, losing by twenty to Houston on Tuesday to drop to 1-2. Defending champion Memphis is averaging 89.7 points per game and needs to calm the hell down. Indiana and St. John’s played a sensational one on Wednesday that some are saying could be an NIT Regional Final come March. I promised myself I wouldn’t get attached to Maryland.
With all that established:
For my personal NIT Final Four right now, which is really just what I want, I’m gonna say Virginia, Notre Dame, UNC, and Marquette. It’s hard, though. I love St. John’s. I love Indiana. I do respect what the Bonnies are trying to do up there (provided that what they’re trying to do up there is win an NIT). There’s a lot to love at this point in the season.
NIT games of the day are both in Charleston, where the Bonnies play Clemson and Shaka Smart plays West Virginia. In Las Vegas, Arizona plays Wichita State, but we’re more Reno guys. Over the weekend, keep an eye on Richmond @ Drake and Florida State vs. Loyola Marymount in Jacksonville. Plus whatever’s going on in Charleston. Charleston is the center of the NIT universe right now. God bless it, now and forever.
WNIT
NC State hosts Kansas State tonight in the final game of the WNIT Preseason Classic. They aren’t calling this game the championship, and I didn’t look at NC State or Kansas State’s schedule back in October, so I don’t know if this was predetermined or not, but they’ve been the best teams in the tournament so far, so basically: championship. It’s on ACCNX, which I think is the premium version of ACC Network hosting only the best games, especially because NCSU’s evidently a top-five team.
Max Scherzer Is Taking Over the Government
Max Scherzer was on Capitol Hill this week, and if I were a legislator, I’d personally give in to the demands. He found you. It’s game over. That man is your boss now.
Joe Kelly Free Agency Continues
No big news on the Joe Kelly front. Cannot imagine how big the offers must be getting by now.
Lane Kiffin vs. Dabo Swinney Would Be So Fun
Lane Kiffin is the anti-Dabo, and I personally welcome reports that he could be headed to Miami to take over the ACC.
The Senators Are So Sick
The Senators’ Covid outbreak has gotten bad enough that three games have been postponed. Shane Pinto might be out for the year with what seems to be a shoulder injury. Erik Brännströmm broke his hand and is going to be out about two months. The Sens actually won one, on Saturday, against the Penguins, but they lost Sunday to the Flames. Games against the Devils, the Predators, and the Rangers were postponed.
The team’s supposed to be back in action on Monday for the start of a Western road trip that’ll take them to Colorado, San José, Anaheim, and Los Angeles over the course of six days. I’d imagine the playoff odds are currently rather grim, but somehow, the Sens are only a point back of the Canadiens for seventh. Could be quite the duel there over the course of the year.
The biggest risk on the West Coast trip is that Jimmy Stu gets abducted to be a movie star, but we don’t have to worry about that until the San José game’s finished and the fellas head to Hollywood. Bottom line is that the guys, as of now, should be back on Monday.
Burnley’s Back
Burnley returns to EPL play tomorrow, and it sounds like the lads are rather healthy. Dale Stephens played for one of the younger clubs, Ashley Barnes has a knock but might be good to go.
The match is at home against Crystal Palace, who’s right around the middle of the table. Odds are fairly even. A win would probably pull the Burnleys up out of relegation territory. A draw would not. Match is at 10:00 AM EST. Only available on Peacock Premium.
In international play, Maxwel Cornet scored against Mozambique but the Ivory Coast fell to Cameroon and won’t be advancing in World Cup Qualifying. Bailey Peacock-Farrell managed to post two clean sheets, one against Italy, and even picked up a yellow card, which is something you don’t often see from goalies. Well done, BPF. Connor Roberts scored for Wales against Belarus while Wayne Hennessey got some run in goal. The Welsh will host a playoff semifinal in March. The Czech Republic, for whom Matěj Vydra got some more run, will be on the road in a playoff semifinal in March. The draw for those comes…next week? England, for whom Nick Pope and a few others (James Tarkowski, Charlie Taylor) might play, has qualified for the World Cup. Chris Wood nearly had a hat trick for New Zealand in a friendly against the Gambia.
Over in Virginia, I tried some claret wine, which I didn’t know existed. It was good. Also, John Keats evidently liked it. John Keats was evidently a Burnley fan.
Formula 1 Disqualification Is Meaningless
F1’s in Qatar this weekend after a confusing one last week in Brazil. The headlines said Lewis Hamilton was disqualified (a flap on the rear wing was, after damage, capable of opening juuuuust beyond the allowable threshold), but it turned out he was only disqualified from qualifying, and because qualifying included a sprint race, he was able to work his way up to starting tenth. That’s still tough in F1, but it’s not full disqualification, and I, for one, was disappointed this wasn’t as dramatic as it could have been.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen had touched Hamilton’s car, inspecting his rival’s wing with his own eyes and foot while the car sat in a do-not-touch zone (pretty sure you’re not allowed to touch your opponents’ cars regardless of what zone they’re in, but this was in a do-not-even-touch-your-own-car zone, if I’m understanding correctly). Great, great rivalry stuff. Verstappen was assessed a small fine.
All of that was the backdrop to Hamilton dazzling on Sunday, stealing the win from Verstappen and shaking the standings all the way up. He’s now just fourteen points back of the Dutchman, and Mercedes is back ahead of Red Bull by eleven, all with just three races to go, which Hamilton may have to sweep to take the championship. This weekend’s is on Sunday morning, American time.
Weekend Viewing Schedule
Got basketball on today, with a special focus on Charleston. Probably flipping between AAC football and hoops tonight. Tomorrow, gotta start figuring out who might make the Citrus Bowl/Sun Bowl/Gator Bowl while getting mad about people getting mad about the playoff. Sunday, F1 in the morning, hoops in the afternoon, probably a little 30 Rock at night.
See you there.
