Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly what a day.
It’s Sunday morning, and whoever said these were easy clearly never spent their Saturday night rising and falling with every attempted comeback by their NIT-loving friends at BYU. We are uncomfortable! Physically!
Let’s get to the games.
Fourteen of these bad boys today, or fourteen that we care about, anyway. There are other games we don’t care about. Apologies to Central Arkansas, but you have to earn our affection.
Organized by the whims of my mind:
1:00 PM EST: UNC @ NC State (ESPN)
Game of the NITe of the Weekend! Unless we called one that yesterday. I can’t remember if we did or if we called that the Game of the NITe of the Saturday Afternoon, or something like that.
Anyway, UNC’s still in the mix even if Kentucky’s playing hard to get right now, and the Tar Heels have a great opportunity today to show us that they care. NC State is a good team, NC State is the home team, UNC has a lot to gain from winning this. That’s where the caring part comes in. If UNC is the NIT-loving institution we aspire for them to be (for their own internal gain, not just our external gain [but also our external gain—get us those clicks, Hubert!]), they will lose this game. This is a must-lose for UNC. Spiritually, when you think about it.
Will they lose? I don’t know. UNC makes me nervous, and I don’t think NC State’s actually that good. I think NC State’s just been playing the ACC. They’re like a smart dog after steak got dropped on the floor. Just being quiet and taking care of business. Nothing to see here. But then today, there’s something to see, you know? So…I’m nervous.
3:00 PM EST: Memphis @ Houston (ESPN)
Talk about a must-lose. This would be a doomful win by the Tigers, which is why many in the Memphis media are calling on the school to rest Kendric Davis for “the stretch run” after the guard hurt his ankle against UCF this week. Memphis, very few teams have won two NIT titles in three years. You could be historic, Memphis…
12:00 PM EST: Cincinnati @ UCF (ESPNU)
Cincinnati was, as Big & Rich once said, “flying high, fine as wine, having [it]self a big and rich time.” Then, they went to Greenville. One bad loss later, they’re trying to climb back into our NIT projections. Thankfully, the payoff—playing one of our likeliest NIT appearers on the road—is large, and with that the downside’s small.
1:00 PM EST: Ohio State @ Purdue (CBS)
3:00 PM EST: Georgetown @ Butler (FS1)
5:00 PM EST: Maryland @ Nebraska (FS1)
Lot of pipe dreams here.
Nebraska’s the closest to getting into the mix, though Butler gets Georgetown and DePaul back-to-back and could make a lot of people talk if they win both of these. (Ok, maybe not a lot. But those of us talking about the NIT would talk about it.) Ohio State’s probably only got two more losses it can give, and maybe just one. This is close to an elimination game for the Buckeyes. What in the world happened to these people?
7:00 PM EST: Oregon @ Washington State (FS1)
Speaking of elimination games, Washington State also only has two more losses it can give, max. Again, possibly just one. Oregon, meanwhile, is right around the bubble, and because of Washington State’s wacky margins (they’ve won big and lost close) this would be a pretty good win, which the Ducks don’t necessarily need right now.
6:30 PM EST: Iowa @ Northwestern (BTN)
Iowa and Northwestern aren’t locked out yet, but each is close, which leads us to say…
Admit it. It would be really funny if Northwestern fell apart and ended up in the NIT.
9:00 PM EST: UNLV @ Boise State (FS1)
For those looking for late-NITe entertainment, this is the closest we can offer. I’ve been told the Rebels will be Runnin’. That’s just the report I’ve been told.
2:00 PM EST: Bradley @ SIU (ESPN2)
4:00 PM EST: Belmont @ Drake (CBSSN)
Here’s the MVC situation: Drake and Bradley are 13–4, Indiana State (who won yesterday) is 13–5, Belmont and SIU are 12–5. So, yes, five-way tie is on the table today. Also on the table is Belmont and SIU’s effective elimination (and neither is looking good for an at-large bid). It’s a big table.
6:00 PM EST: ETSU @ Furman (ESPNU)
Furman’s not done yet, with an outside shot at an at-large bid and an inside shot at the SoCon title. If they win out, I’m pretty sure it’s theirs.
2:00 PM EST: Iona @ Saint Peter’s (ESPN+)
2:00 PM EST: Rider @ Quinnipiac (ESPN3)
MAACtion! Rider and Iona separated by a game. Interesting that Iona couldn’t win an NIT game last year and Saint Peter’s won many games in the NCA* *********t and Iona’s a big favorite today. Interesting.
