What a lovely NIT evening we have ahead of us, folks. Here are the games that count (but first, here are our College Basketball Probabilities and NIT Bracketology to get you reacquainted with the landscape):
Hofstra vs. Delaware (6:00 PM Eastern—yes, my bad, already started)
Hofstra’s in the NIT with an automatic bid should they lose. Delaware’s called the Blue Hens. Good stuff all around.
Oh, and Hofstra does have another chance to lose if they mess this one up. Not the final shot unless they make it the final shot.
North Dakota State vs. Oral Roberts (7:00 PM Eastern)
Like Hofstra, NDSU’s in the NIT with an automatic bid should they lose. Unlike Hofstra, this is their best shot to do that losing, because IPFW’s over on the other side of the bracket beating good teams (well, one good team, but you get the idea). So they might not want to force the issue.
East Tennessee State vs. Wofford (7:00 PM Eastern)
ETSU’s ship may have sunk. It’s a pirate ship. Because they’re the Buccaneers. So there might be treasure you can go get. But you’d have to go swim in the bad tournament to get it. And it’s only there if their ship really has sunk.
If ETSU’s ship has not, in fact, sunk, they can steer it safely to harbor with a loss tonight to Wofford. A win is the death bell, sending them to a port from which few return to tell the tale (just kidding, lots of teams make the NIT after making that other tournament the year prior).
Long story short, ETSU’s playing in the conference championship tonight. They won the regular season, like NDSU and Hofstra, so they get an automatic bid if they lose and the other tournament doesn’t take them. No more second chances, though.
Wright State vs. UIC (7:00 PM Eastern)
This one’s a semifinal too. For Wright State. Trying to keep that Horizon-League-NIT-automatic-bid streak alive. No longer #MotorCityMadness, though. So the mojo might be gone.
Gonzaga vs. San Francisco (9:00 PM Eastern)
Gonzaga could technically still get an NIT automatic bid, but it would take a lot of bargaining. Probably more than they’ll do.
No, Gonzaga is not the story tonight. They’re a lost cause. San Francisco’s cause is not yet lost, and could actually be saved with a victory, or with the right combination of guts and charisma to make the NIT Selection Committee say “I say! Those boys can play!”
We’ll see what they’ve got planned. I personally recommend the heavy use of jazz hands.
***
That’s it for tonight. See you tomorrow, NIT fans.
