Maybe I got spoiled as a kid. I was 12, and I thought the Gopher basketball team was pretty good. Voshon leonard was AWESOME. That year, in 1993, that Gopher team went on a run that I thought was something special. No NCAA tournament birth, but who cares.. The NIT is just as good (I wasnt the smartest kid.. I took kindergarten twice).
The Gophers ran through the NIT field of Florida, Oklahoma, USC, and Providence to get to the finals (Apparently, Mid-majors weren't invented until Andy Katz joined ESPN). After watching Minnesota take down Georgetown in the finals at Grandpa Verns house, I thought the Gophers were the greatest team ever. I loved the NIT.
My mind might be a little off, but even in the internet era, mid 1990's, it was impossible to find NIT schedules or brackets, so maybe they didnt even exist.. It just seemed like you played your first round game, then eventually someone will tell you who you play next. Even before a full bracket they have now, there were still play-in games to the NIT.. How lame is that. Im surprised it took them that long to develop a full bracket like they do now.
Then again, this years NIT is pretty interesting. We have already seen two cock-punches that Elliot Mann would be proud of, and Illinois playing a road game as a one seed against Stoney Brook, the eight seed.. Apparently, Cirque De Soleli didnt want to give up their Assembly Hall reservation. Also, the most feared place to play an NIT game? Fed Ex Forum in Memphis.. Memphis has won 9 straight home NIT games! Take that Brent Schoeb!
This blog has near-unlimited potential. I'm excited for tomorrow. A few thoughts before the madness hits in full.
ReplyDelete(1) Totally agree with the near-impossibility of finding NIT brackets even a couple years ago (I imagine all young Gopher fans in the '90s dealt with this problem). Even now, on ESPN.com, if you go to college basketball scores for today, it just says "No NCAA tournament games" ... you have to click a special link to enable the NIT scores like you're turning off a porn filter or something. No respect.
(2) Best NIT bet ever: 2 1/2 - 1 on the buzzer-beater in 2003, to be paid in malt liquor. A 40 never tasted so good!
(3) This is the first time I've ever worked in an office, so it's the first time I can be in the traditional "office pool," but ours is firm-wide, and of the 100+ entries, like 5 are from our office. This seems totally lame to me. I might not even enter. Does that make me a bad college basketball fan?
(4) I don't think we've said enough about your pre-conference season love for Northwestern. They're a 7 seed ... in the NIT. They're seeded lower than NORTHEASTERN. They're not even the best "North plus another direction" school in the NIT. Bold pick, there.
^ you should still enter the office pool if it's not too late; if you don't start the revolution, who will?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI forgot about the Malt Liquor bet! I remember being upstairs at the Press and being so confident there was going to be a buzzer beater! I am also getting into the Northwestern fiasco later today
ReplyDelete