I regret to inform you that we have a new NIT favorite. By which I mean, our favorite. Not the favorite to win the NIT. Certainly not that favorite. Goodness, no. Not that.
Ok, let’s get to it.
TCU posted a lackluster highlight reel from their empty (but cool!) gym, where they escaped Northwestern State by six after being eighteen and a half point favorites:
That’s it. Did you watch? It’s beautiful. It is the most uninspiring thing I’ve ever seen. Elicits absolutely no emotion. It’s like a lukewarm dinner roll with cold, slabby butter. It’s exactly what we want out of our NIT hopefuls.
Other NIT notes of note:
- UConn won a beauty yesterday, in which USC shot 16% from three and UConn, the victors, shot 33% from two. Both teams accumulated more turnovers than assists, but that’s mostly because USC only completed four assists (!!) and UConn only managed nine. The people are hungry for these two in Madison Square Garden this March (April?), and I can’t say I blame the people.
- Evidently the Pac-12 has started playing conference games. Wasn’t sure about that, but it’s happening. With Washington’s latest indignity—a 14-point smothering by Utah in Seattle—the possibility of the Huskies spending the whole season winless is still nonexistent, but we can at least pretend it isn’t, which is a lot of fun with a power conference team.
- Virginia Tech gave us a wink and a nod, needing almost the full forty minutes to put VMI away in Blacksburg. We see you, Hokies.
- Marquette has a chance to give their NIT campaign a whole lot of legs, and all it takes is getting absolutely annihilated by Wisconsin tonight. The path is there for Steve Wojciechowski.
- Oregon could get themselves some NIT buzz with another loss in Omaha, but they’re getting some dudes back soon. It’s unclear to me, who hasn’t checked, if they’re getting them back tonight or not, but if they are, maybe the roster won’t have gelled yet and they’ll drop one to Seton Hall. Best of luck, Ducks.
Happy Friday, NIT family.
