Ok gang, here’s the plan:
Hit ‘Em Where It Hurts
- 3:00 PM EST: Miami @ Clemson (ACCN)
No, no. We’ll get to those. (Believe me. We’ll get to those.)
We aren’t sure if Miami’s good. I don’t think anyone should be sure Miami’s good. We are sure, though, that Clemson is not good. Clemson is a mediocre men’s basketball team. They should be an NIT bubble team, and not from the top.
Now, Clemson deserves credit for what they’ve done so far. They have won a lot of games. But most NIT teams do. This isn’t us hating on Clemson. This is us telling them to come home. And the best part? It doesn’t really matter what they do today. For Miami it matters—Miami needs a whole lot of losses if they’re gonna hang with us—but for Clemson, the path is at least at this moment clear.
Hand to Hand Combat
- 6:30 PM EST: North Carolina @ Duke (ESPN)
People aren’t realizing how close UNC is to the NIT. That hasn’t entered broader discourse yet like it did last year. A road loss as an underdog shouldn’t be damning for them, but that’s where we come in.
We need to make it damning.
Our goal today is to make sure everybody knows we’ve got our eyes on both UNC and Duke.
Let no one say we dreamed too small.
The Kentucky Question
- 8:30 PM EST: Florida @ Kentucky (ESPN)
Is Kentucky NIT material? It doesn’t look like it, but it looks like they’re close, and that’s usually good enough for us to start staking claims. We only get 32 teams, after all.
Kentucky’s in the picture, and up against the Forrest Gump of this college basketball season—lost to FAU, played UConn in their coming-up party, beat Tennessee in their coming-down party—they’re primed for a weird one. A real weird one. They deserve it, and you know what? We do too.
Good Games We Can Claim
- 12:00 PM EST: Virginia @ Virginia Tech (ESPN2)
- 12:00 PM EST: Michigan State vs. Rutgers (FOX)
- 2:00 PM EST: TCU @ Oklahoma State (ESPN+)
- 2:30 PM EST: Illinois @ Iowa (FOX)
- 8:00 PM EST: Oklahoma @ West Virginia (ESPN2)
Thanks to Hunter Cattoor’s injury, the hypercompetitiveness of the Big 12, Illinois giving us hope all those months ago, Iowa steadfastly refusing to play defense, and Tom Izzo’s late-career swoon, we get to lay our paws on all five of these today. Not a bad list, to be fair. To be fair to us, that is.
Games of the NITe of the Day
- 12:00 PM EST: UCF @ Cincinnati (ESPNU)
- 6:00 PM EST: Mizzou @ Mississippi State (SECN)
- 10:00 PM EST: Oregon @ Arizona State (ESPN2)
These ones are fine. Better than you’d expect! That’s kind of the point.
Intrigue
- 12:00 PM EST: UConn @ Georgetown (FS1)
- 1:00 PM EST: Texas Tech @ Baylor (CBS)
- 2:00 PM EST: Tulane @ Memphis (ESPNU)
- 3:30 PM EST: Arkansas @ South Carolina (SECN)
- 7:00 PM EST: Washington State @ UCLA (P12N)
- 7:30 PM EST: Villanova @ Creighton (FOX)
- 9:00 PM EST: Maryland @ Minnesota (BTN)
There are two sub-categories here. The first is games that probably don’t impact the NIT but would be loud enough if they went one way that we’d look. What do I mean? UConn, Arkansas, and Maryland aren’t making the NIT in any reasonable universe, but ours is unreasonable enough for us to have the conversation if they drop these. The second is games that are just fascinating. Is Texas Tech about to resurrect, or was Iowa State just a poop factory on Monday night? Is Tulane actually going to do something or are they going to toy with us all year? Can Washington State and Villanova get to .500?
To be fair, Villanova/Creighton straddles that divide, but that’s what makes it so magical. Game of the NITe of the Weekend. We’ll say it.
Happenstance
- 1:00 PM EST: Wake Forest @ Notre Dame (ESPN+)
- 1:00 PM EST: Georgia Tech @ NC State (ACCN)
- 4:00 PM EST: FIU @ UAB (ESPN+)
- 5:00 PM EST: St. John’s @ Xavier (FOX)
- 8:00 PM EST: Utah State @ Colorado State (CBSSN)
- 8:00 PM EST: North Texas @ Rice (ESPN+)
- 8:00 PM EST: Dayton @ St. Bonaventure (ESPNU)
- 8:30 PM EST: Georgia @ Texas A&M (SECN)
- 9:30 PM EST: Washington @ USC (FS1)
- 10:00 PM EST: Santa Clara @ San Francisco (ESPNU)
Sometimes, as an NIT fan, you have to watch games just to get to know teams. We might only hit on a third of these guys, but at least one team in each of these is standing within the NIT radius.
The Sun Belt
- 2:00 PM EST: College of Charleston @ Delaware (??)
- 2:00 PM EST: Southern Miss @ Georgia State (ESPN+)
- 4:00 PM EST: FAU @ Charlotte (ESPN+)
- 5:00 PM EST: Liberty @ Lipscomb (ESPN+)
- 6:00 PM EST: Bradley @ Northern Iowa (ESPNews)
- 7:00 PM EST: Drake @ Valpo (ESPN+)
- 8:00 PM EST: Marshall @ Louisiana (ESPN+)
In the Sun Belt, we’ve got big games in Conference USA, the Missouri Valley, the CAA (I looked in two places and neither knew what channel), the ASUN, and the Sun Belt. Mostly with NIT stakes, but in the case of Liberty/Lipscomb more with NIT nostalgia. How much does Lipscomb miss Casey Alexander? Do they ever wear a disguise and go down the street to watch him at Belmont?
Dreams
- 10:30 PM EST: Gonzaga @ Saint Mary’s (ESPN)
Last stand for Gonzaga’s NIT candidacy, I think.
I think.
Shaka Smart
- 2:00 PM EST: Butler @ Marquette (FS1)
- 4:00 PM EST: Texas @ Kansas State (ESPN2)
And finally, in our ongoing struggle in Austin to see Shaka Smart irrefutably triumph over the forces that are Texas, we’ve got these two. Shoutout to NIT champion Thad Matta, shoutout to assistant NIT champion Jerome Tang.
Let’s have a day.
