The ball has been tipped. The buzzer horn has gone off. The refs are reffing. The hardwood is squeaking. Friends, college basketball day 1 has come and gone and with that, plenty of things we loved and hated.
Let’s run down some of those.
Love: Division II showcase
Mid-Major Madness strives to be an inclusive space for just about everyone (except a few; they know who they are). As part of that inclusivity, I want to take a moment to give some love to our friends in DII, who had themselves a great day against some unfortunate
DI schools.
The first of two DII over DI knockoffs came when West Alabama’s Bella Machen drilled a go-ahead bucket with seconds left on the road against UAB Monday afternoon.
The second of the day came hours later when Boise State, a team that many predict to be atop of the men’s side of the final year of the Mountain West as we know it, suffered possibly its worst loss in program history after falling to the Hawaii Pacific Sharks.
The Broncos’ loss was capped off by a blunder of a final possession that you can watch below.
Hate: Non-DI losses not counting (but they do?)
What I learned on Day 1 (maybe more was reminded) is that losses to non-DI teams do not count towards NET, KenPom, or other NCAA Tournament metrics. But that begs the question, will the Selection Committee care? Should they care? I think they should! There is a lot of season left, and Boise State could still have an at-large case, but this loss really should be a stain if it comes down to it. Supposedly, it will show up as an effective “fifth quadrant” but won’t matter when counting metrics.
BUT as NCAA Director of Media Coordination/Statistics David Worlock said in response to our guy Rocco Miller, the result will be on the committee’s team sheets. So, it does count once they look at a team’s entire resume, but does not when the numbers do number things in the NET and other metrics.
Love: Field of 68 tip-off marathon
The recent enshitification of sports is largely due to corporate whims and gambling money, but credit where credit is due. The Field of 68 — a site that we poke fun at from time to time thanks to Mr. Jeff Goodman’s antics and noted favorite color of the orange hue — put on a (mostly) solid broadcast and was bolstered by some phenomenal games.
The first two games came down to single-digit differences (Winthrop over Queens; St. Bonny over Bradley), while three others (Drake over NAU; Murray State over Omaha; South Dakota State over Merrimack) were all within striking distance for most of the time.
Hate: Field of 68 tip-0ff stream woes
Sometimes you just get into a monkey’s paw situation. The Field of 68 stream was free on their YouTube, but that came with its own host of issues, notably the stream crapping out early on.
Love: Buddy Simmons’ dad
Everyone loves a good supportive parent and, in the midst of his 24-point (5/11 3FG), five-rebound, four-assist, three-steal performance of the Bonnies, his dad was FEELING IT.
Hate: Gambling ads
I understand I am typing this under a site that has gambling ads on it. Apologies for the scent of hypocrisy here. Watching throughout the day I can’t help but have a distaste for the onslaught of gambling ads thrown at me — not matter where I watch.
Field of 68 tip-off marathon? Get ready to have Rob Dauster telling you about Bet MGM.
Anything CBS Sports? FanDuel coming at ya!
ESPN catch your eye? Have you heard of the exclusive lines at ESPN Bet?
Enough please. We don’t need this.
Love: Idaho
Big shouts to the Potato State. The Idaho men’s and women’s basketball teams went and did something that hadn’t happened since the Ronald Reagan administration.
That’s right, Idaho beat regional rival Washington State in both men’s and women’s hoops on the same day for the first time since 1981. We love to see it.
