Well, well, well. If it isn’t Thanksgiving college basketball week.
Thanksgiving College Basketball Tournaments: What’s Happening
Ok, so at the moment it appears Houston is pounding Butler in the Las Vegas Maui Invitational (we only accept Asheville Maui Invitationals in this household) and Seton Hall and Ohio State are tight. On the scoreboard. Not with one another. Maybe with one another. Never gotten the vibe those schools are friends, though.
Also Tulane and Drexel are in a water delay in a hotel ballroom in the Bahamas midway through the second half. Can’t take that Green Wave anywhere.
Thanksgiving College Basketball Tournaments: What’s Happened
Well, Wisconsin survived Texas A&M earlier. Texas A&M is so hard to me. The school’s really annoying, but Buzz Williams is the dude. Tough situation. They might make the NIT.
Over the weekend, preliminary NIT favorite St. Bonaventure won the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic, prestigious mostly because it featured Shaka Smart this year. Solid weekend for our guy (beat West Virginia on Friday after we talked), but not quite enough. Young team. They’re learning. Also he might have beef now with the Bonnies in which case I have beef with the Bonnies. There was some jawing about a late timeout to get subs in.
UNC lost to Purdue and Tennessee, which isn’t shameful but feels disappointing for the Tar Heels, and boy, I don’t think they’re gonna be happy to see me if that’s where this goes (that’s where this looks like it’s going). Colgate beat Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, and did it by fifteen, and did it by putting up 100, and we might see both of them in March. Drake beat Richmond on Saturday while a thousand aggrieved Twitter fans salivated. Arizona stomped Michigan last night, and I’m not sure we’re going to see them. They’ve got vibes, and not our kind of vibes.
Thanksgiving College Basketball Tournaments: What’s to Come
Wouldn’t you like to know.
No, really. It’s fun! Nothing to tell you about all the on-court product of these tournaments but I went through all the names earlier, including the informal ones, like the West Coast Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans Fort Myers Tip-Off. Had a good time. Dare you to click it.
WNIT Update
Ok I think NC State won the Preseason WNIT. Nobody else did, but they don’t seem to be claiming a championship. If you know any information on this, please share.
Burnley Burned
The good news: Burnley scored three goals on Saturday against Crystal Palace. The bad news: Burnley allowed three goals on Saturday to Crystal Palace. Hilarious prank by the Burnleys, scoring more goals than we thought they could score while also turning in one of their worst performances of the year defensively. Everything else that could go wrong did, including effing Watford winning by three against Manchester United. Still in 18th, our lads play Tottenham this weekend. Britain doesn’t do Thanksgiving, right? Nothing to be grateful for?
The Sens Are Back
The Covid outbreak has been resolved enough to resume hockey. Sens are in Denver tonight to play the Avalanche. Drake Batherson’s still out, as are the injured dudes, but the other main characters return. Filip Gustavsson is in goal. Lassi Thomson is paired with Chabot on the blue line.
Lewis Hamilton Keeps Winning
What do you call a championship race in a sport made of races? Whatever the word, it’s tight in F1. Lewis Hamilton won in Qatar to close the gap with Max Verstappen to eight points and leave Mercedes with a five-point lead in the constructor standings (Valtteri Bottas was up to some shit and not in a good way for Mercedes). Next grand prix in two weeks in Saudi Arabia.
Texas Keeps Losing
After falling in Morgantown, the Longhorns are officially bowl-ineligible, unless one of those weird things happens where there aren’t enough teams with six wins and they start dipping into teams with five. Might be a non-issue. Kansas State’s in town on Friday.
***
Tonight’s viewing…well, we don’t have ESPN+ yet (I’m told that might fit into the budget in the new year, but I’m told that about a lot of things). So, instead of watching the Sens, it’s college basketball, and it appears the games of note for us NIT-aware fans are Georgia/Virginia in the Roman Legends Classic Presented by Old Trapper, Arkansas/Kansas State (more Kansas State than Arkansas—don’t panic, Muss Bus passengers) in at least the second oddly named Hall of Fame tournament of the year, and Notre Dame/Saint Mary’s if I can’t sleep (I think I should sleep). In the meantime, I need to walk back home from this tire place parking lot so I can get the functional car and go pick up Fargo (context). Godspeed.
