It’s College Basketball Saturday, you and I are NIT fans, and we’re going…conference by conference?! Yes. It’s that time of year. The action is too immense to be viewed nationally. We need to incorporate geography and social caste.
Every game the NIT world has its beautiful eyes on:
ACC
- 2:00 PM EST: Wake Forest @ Miami (ESPN+)
- 5:00 PM EST: Pitt @ Virginia Tech (ACCN)
- 6:00 PM EST: Duke @ Syracuse (ESPN)
- 7:00 PM EST: Clemson @ Louisville (ACCN)
Let’s start with the Game of the NITe: Pitt vs. Virginia Tech. The Panthers have been getting a bit out of our reaches lately, and Virginia Tech’s on the brink of falling out of the NIT projection altogether, but the lingering feud between these two longtime ACC Rivals (LONG time) makes it hard to say they’ll work together. Anything can happen. Aliens, even. Or $12 hobby balloons!
Elsewhere: Duke has a good opportunity, Syracuse has a good opportunity, Miami and Wake have good opportunities (I write very few teams off, and Miami is not among the few), and Clemson faces a no-win game that could push them into CBI territory. The only Clemson fans hoping for a loss today are Clemson fans who would rather miss the NIT than make it. Imagine such a person!
Big Ten
- 12:00 PM EST: Rutgers @ Wisconsin (BTN)
- 8:00 PM EST: Michigan State @ Michigan (FOX)
- 9:00 PM EST: Penn State @ Minnesota (BTN)
Wisconsin needs losses, especially against good teams. It helps that Rutgers isn’t a great team, and it helps that this is at home, but the Badgers must lose today. If they don’t, I will be peeved and sad.
Other interest: Penn State could jolt their system back to safety, Michigan State’s probably out of this, and Michigan keeps walking the .500 tightrope. Lot of emotion in Ann Arbor this evening. Even more than a standard NIT–contention duel. Our best wishes to those mourning.
Pac-12
- 6:00 PM EST: Utah @ Arizona State (P12N)
- 8:00 PM EST: Colorado @ Arizona (ESPN2)
- 8:00 PM EST: Oregon State @ Washington (P12N)
- 10:00 PM EST: Stanford @ USC (ESPNU)
Are you a night owl? You’re not? Good for you. That’s probably healthy. Either way, Pac-12 action this evening, spanning from reasonable hours to downright nocturnal. Utah, ASU, USC, and Colorado are all in the thick of this thing (USC tends bubble but the bubble’s still thick). Washington would like to be but you gotta score points, Huskies! We’re always telling Washington to score points.
SEC
- 1:00 PM EST: Tennessee @ Kentucky (CBS)
- 2:00 PM EST: Florida @ Arkansas (ESPN2)
- 3:30 PM EST: Mississippi State @ Mississippi (SECN)
- 6:00 PM EST: Texas A&M @ Mizzou (ESPN2)
- 6:00 PM EST: Georgia @ Alabama (SECN)
- 8:30 PM EST: Auburn @ Vanderbilt (SECN)
Boy oh boy, does Kentucky not want to win this one.
I’m nervous.
Meanwhile, Vandy and Georgia try to get over the hump (Georgia’s in the Washington situation where they don’t have a very good chance but we’re saying they have a chance because it helps our website traffic), Florida adjusts to life without Castleton, Mississippi State dances with destiny, and A&M and Mizzou do their thing in Columbia. Feel like that game will be chaos. I like chaos. Don’t thrive in it, but would like to thrive in it. I would like to thrive in chaos.
Big East
- 12:00 PM EST: Seton Hall @ UConn (FOX)
- 4:30 PM EST: Villanova @ Providence (FOX)
- 7:30 PM EST: Creighton @ St. John’s (FS1)
I’m not sure Villanova’s done yet. Kyle Neptune shouldn’t be a bad coach. Seton Hall shouldn’t try it, by the way, and St. John’s needs to try it. Saturday! Big East! Woo!
Big 12
- 12:00 PM EST: Texas Tech @ West Virginia (ESPNU)
- 2:00 PM EST: Oklahoma @ Texas (ESPN+)
- 2:00 PM EST: Oklahoma State @ TCU (ESPN+)
Oklahoma’s gasping for breath, Texas Tech is on the warpath, and Oklahoma State still has a chance. In a parallel dimension where music’s primary topic was college basketball, this would be a hell of a Willie Nelson song.
Mountain West, A-10
- 2:30 PM EST: Fordham @ VCU (USA)
- 8:00 PM EST: Nevada @ Utah State (CBSSN)
- 8:00 PM EST: Duquesne @ Saint Louis (ESPN+)
You’re welcome, A-10. You know what I mean.
Nevada and Utah State are straddling the bubble right now, and honestly, we’d prefer they swap spots. Utah State doesn’t do much for us. Nevada? We don’t know. But we’d get to talk about Reno, and we do love us some Reno.
SLU’s trying to get back in the picture, Duquesne and Fordham are dreaming dreams, VCU’s in the middle of the mess. That’s a reference to the unseeded lines of the NIT. We’re softening our stance on the state of Virginia.
AAC
- Saturday, 8:00 PM EST: Tulane @ South Florida (ESPNU)
Tulane, Tulane, Tulane. Does Mardi Gras help or hurt? This is something we’ve been wondering a lot lately. Because of Tulane. Tulane.
WCC
- 7:00 PM EST: Gonzaga @ Pepperdine (Root Sports)
- 8:30 PM EST: Santa Clara @ Portland (WCCN)
- 10:00 PM EST: BYU @ Saint Mary’s (ESPN2)
- 10:00 PM EST: Pacific @ Loyola Marymount (WCCN)
We still believe.
In Gonzaga.
Not in BYU or LMU.
I mean Gonzaga could still do it, and it’d be so funny if they did. The problem is that it’s starting to seem like the team’s capable of some semblance of defense and has just been half-assing it, which means they can turn it on (to a degree) when they need to, which is now. They’re over the college game. Drew Timme is over the college game. He’s the first college player ever to merely be collecting paychecks.
Conference USA
- 4:00 PM EST: UAB @ UTSA (Stadium)
- 9:00 PM EST: North Texas @ UTEP (ESPN+)
Military Appreciation Night in San Antonio.
WAC
- 8:00 PM EST: Utah Valley @ Seattle (ESPN+)
Utah Valley could clinch the WAC championship tonight, including the tiebreaker over Sam Houston State. I ask the room, “Remember when Seattle was in the mix for that?” No one responds.
Ivy League
- 6:00 PM EST: Yale @ Princeton (ESPN+)
- 6:00 PM EST: Brown @ Penn (ESPN+)
We weren’t too surprised by Penn taking down Yale last night. Yale had been riding high. High riders tend to crash. What we didn’t realize was that this puts Penn in the mix for an auto-bid. If Yale finishes the Princeton sweep, the Quakers can make it a three-way tie, putting us a little magic and one scheduling conflict away from a first-round NIT game at the Palestra. Not a lot of tournaments can say that.
You know I’m right.
Sun Belt
- 1:00 PM EST: Georgia Southern @ Southern Miss (ESPN+)
- 7:00 PM EST: Troy @ Marshall (ESPN+)
- 7:00 PM EST: Louisiana @ James Madison (ESPN+)
This league was a lot more interesting before Joe fixed our formulas and we learned they aren’t going to get two NIT bids. That said, this league could still conceivably sneak two NIT bids. ULL and JMU are both somewhat in the picture. Can only probably be one of them, though. Need a blowout.
Oh, also, in the part these teams care about, Southern Miss is hanging on by a game over Marshall and the Cajuns. (That’s their technical name. Not just me referring to Louisianans as Cajuns. Though I think that’s fair play too, right? Maybe not. I should ask my friend from Louisiana. The one from Lafayette. Not my cousin who went to LSU. He speaks confidently even when he is wrong.)
Misery Valley
- 2:00 PM EST: Illinois State @ Indiana State (ESPN3)
Most days, this is the Missouri Valley. Most days, I don’t forget that Drake and Bradley are playing on Sunday and then check the schedule to find a likely also-ran commanding the most compelling game.
Big West
- 4:00 PM EST: UC-Davis @ UC-Irvine (ESPN+)
- 8:00 PM EST: UC-Santa Barbara @ UC-Riverside (ESPN+)
This is tied, I think the Anteaters hold the tiebreaker, the Gauchos need some help. Unless the Gauchos hold the tiebreaker. Then the Anteaters would need the help. Or I suppose the tiebreaker could be up in the air. Then both would need the help. Or the tiebreaker could be to be determined but each team could control its fate somehow. Then nobody would need any help. In the whole world.
MAC
- 5:00 PM EST: Toledo @ Bowling Green (ESPN3)
Toledo tries to answer Kent State. Also. What’s the difference between ESPN3 and ESPN+? They feel redundant. Are there TVs out there getting ESPN3? Is ESPN3 free? Should they call it ESPNFree? I don’t like that. It makes it seem like you’re making an “nf” sound.
SoCon
- 12:00 PM EST: UNC-Greensboro @ Chattanooga (CBSSN)
- 1:00 PM EST: Samford @ VMI (ESPN+)
Furman doesn’t play until tomorrow, so today it’s just UNCG trying frantically to self-correct and catch back up to Samford.
ASUN
- 2:00 PM EST: Queens @ Kennesaw State (ESPN+)
- 6:00 PM EST: Liberty @ Jacksonville State (ESPN+)
I feel like this is the first time we’ve mentioned Queens in any of our blog posts. North Carolina, not New York. Anyway, Kennesaw State, don’t blow this now.
MAAC, Big South, Big Sky
- 3:00 PM EST: Gardner-Webb @ UNC-Asheville (ESPN+)
- 3:00 PM EST: Radford @ Longwood (ESPN+)
- 5:00 PM EST: Northern Colorado @ Eastern Washington (ESPN+)
MAAC’s off, but UNCA’s trying to clinch the Big South title (I’m pretty sure it’s theirs with a win regardless of Radford/Longwood, but not sure enough to not include Radford/Longwood on this list) and Eastern Washington’s trying to stay undefeated in the Big Sky, with a clinching scenario on the table for them as well (might be as simple as winning, but they definitely clinch with a win and a Montana State loss).
Horizon League, Summit League
- 2:00 PM EST: Green Bay @ Youngstown State (ESPN+)
- 8:00 PM EST: North Dakota State @ Oral Roberts (ORUSN)
Green Bay tries to open a door for the rest of the HoLo; Oral Roberts tries to stay unbeaten in the Summit League, which Oral Roberts has already clinched.
America East, Patriot League
- 2:00 PM EST: Holy Cross @ Colgate (ESPN+)
- 7:00 PM EST: Vermont @ NJIT (ESPN3)
Don’t think Vermont can clinch, Colgate’s already clinched but we made the mistake of implying we’d include every conference in this and now here we are.
CAA
- 6:30 PM EST: Hofstra @ Stony Brook (FloHoops)
Charleston’s off, so Hofstra’s flying solo as they try to turn the screws on Pat Kelsey. Is Pat Kelsey handsome? Is there some weird old lady in the Charleston suburbs saying “That Pat Kelsey, I’d like to turn the screws on…”?
MEAC, SWAC
- 4:00 PM EST: Howard @ Coppin State (coppin.edu)
- 4:00 PM EST: Morgan State @ Norfolk State (HBCU League Pass+)
- 4:00 PM EST: Alcorn State @ Jackson State (HBCU Go)
- 5:00 PM EST: Grambling State vs. Southern (ESPN2)
The MEAC is down to Howard and Norfolk, most likely, with Howard up by a game. Alcorn State’s got the lead in the SWAC but Southern and Grambling are in the mix, so credit to the SWAC and/or the NBA and/or ESPN for identifying these two as a good pair to play the All-Star HBCU game.
OVC, Southland, NEC
- 1:00 PM EST: Stonehill @ Central Connecticut State (ccsubluedevils.com)
- 2:00 PM EST: Merrimack @ Sacred Heart (CBSSN)
- 3:00 PM EST: Lindenwood @ Morehead State (ESPN+)
- 4:00 PM EST: Fairleigh Dickinson @ Wagner (NEC Front Row)
- 4:30 PM EST: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi @ McNeese State (ESPN3)
- 4:30 PM EST: New Orleans @ Northwestern State (ESPN3)
The NEC is an absolute mess which we’ll get to in a moment, but first: Morehead has a clinching scenario and the AMCC/NWSU race is fire vs. fire, but like the kind of fire where a Bunsen burner accidentally got left on even though there’s barely a flame. Dangerous, really. If the flame goes out but the gas stays on that thing could blow this whole place up.
Ok, the NEC? Merrimack and Stonehill are first in the league, each with four losses. FDU has five. Why is this a mess? Merrimack and Stonehill are still transitioning to Division I. What’s so messy about that? Well, Merrimack’s been doing it long enough that the NEC is allowing them to play in the conference tournament. Evidently the NEC has decided it must also have a transitional postseason exclusion, like the NCAA does, but that its will be different in duration from the NCAA’s? Why don’t you just…never mind. The NEC has mystery. I will give it that.
So, NEC auto-bid’s likely off the table, which is good for the NIT because these are tiny schools and their teams suck, but we’re still tuning in because again I made the mistake of implying we would do all 32 conferences. And also we want to make sure FDU doesn’t sneak in here. We do not want FDU in the NIT. I’m sorry, FDU. It’s not personal. You just have no marketing value and you’re terrible at basketball relatively to the other teams we could get. And those teams aren’t great!
