Are you ready for some basketball?
A Saturday invasion?
Ok it turns out I don’t know that song as well as I thought I did, and it also turns out the cheapest laptop you can buy at Target on a Friday night is rather slow, so let’s get to the games before this thing spinning wheels itself to death because I tried putting an umlaut over a u.
NIT SECOND ROUND PREVIEW HECK YEAH IT IS TIME
Oregon @ Texas A&M – 12:00 PM EDT, ESPN
This is so funny. A&M scheduling an NIT game at 9 AM Pacific Time when hosting Oregon, I mean…well actually, maybe this was ESPN? I’ve been thinking all week it was A&M deciding to crush Oregon, but now that I look at the TV schedule for the day…this is completely ESPN. ESPN just wanted people to watch, and people watch A&M sports. A lot of ‘em. So their one NIT game being broadcast today (not streamed) is A&M/Oregon. That actually makes a lot of sense. Also, good for the brand! Well done, ESPN. Sorry it means you might die, Oregon.
VCU @ Wake Forest – 4:00 PM EDT, ESPN+
A game of grave importance to me, personally, because I am staying in a Wake Forest household this weekend. Kind of like being around werewolves at a full moon, which is to say, some flesh might be torn limb from limb if someone looks at my phone screen when I leave it on the table, sees the game, and is accidentally flushed full of the glory of the NIT.
Anyway, look out for VCU getting confused when they walk in and say to themselves, “This school feels like Richmond, and this school smells like Richmond, and these people look and talk and walk like Richmond people do, but all their finance-bro vests are black, not blue.”
Northern Iowa @ BYU – 9:00 PM EDT, ESPN+
Not going to lie. I thought BYU’s crowd would be bigger for the opening round. Has Mark Pope reset expectations in Provo? Did Mark Pope ruin BYU basketball?
Florida @ Xavier – Tomorrow, 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 – Tomorrow, 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 – Tomorrow, 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 – Tomorrow, 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 – Tomorrow, 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.
Joe Kelly and Carlos Correa Are in the Same Division
*maniacal laughter*
I’m not mad about the Cubs not getting Correa. That guy sucks. He’s great at baseball, but hard to think of many people less fun to cheer for than Carlos Correa. They’re out there, yeah, I’m not saying I’d rather have Deshaun Watson or something, but the guy’s not fun. He’s the antithesis of fun. He and Alex Bregman are perfect actually-harmless villains, and the thought of him kind of underachieving in Minneapolis or raking and having no one care is a happy thought. I’d trade four wins this year for that thought.
Should’ve Seen That Coming: Sens Sens the Flyers
I know the Flyers are in a sadder spot than the Sens, but the Sens are the worse hockey team. Much worse. They were also at just about their most hopeless entering last night. Which is why we should have known they were going to win.
3-1, Senators, big game from Tim Stützle, good game from Anton Forsberg. Nick Paul didn’t play, might get traded in the next few days, unclear if that would be wise or not, but depends how much the Sens get back for him in the trade scenario so there is just no way to know, friends and family. Just no way to know.
Another game tonight, this one over in Montréal, puck drops at 7:00 PM EDT and the game’s on ESPN+.
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We’ll be back tomorrow for F1, IndyCar, NASCAR, and—most importantly—the second five eighths of the NIT second round. Be good out there. But also…drink it in. The NIT, everybody. Go get it.
