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Tuesday, November 5, 2024
The fifth entrant in NCAA Division I’s college basketball postseason debuted on Monday with the first-ever Vegas 16 tournament tipping off. If you’re a history buff, you really should check it out now because…if the event is relying heavily on ticket sales, the odds of there being a second one are not very good.
The first two NCAA Tournament bids went out on Saturday, and you can’t blame either coach if they got a little emotional. Plus a full day of tournament action, a coach gets the dreaded “vote of confidence”, and winning was especially hard for one team this year.
This Friday night was not so ho-hum with three big matchups on tap. Plus ACC teams will be minus some manpower, and an arrest in Illinois is the latest in a tough season.
Neither Oakland nor Iona are likely to win the regular season championship in their respective conferences. It also should surprise just about no one if either or both are in the NCAA Tournament a month from now.
It’s a new day at VCU, where there were some tough times early but good times now. Plus the smart kids are in full swing, a Gator may be out, and one coach doesn’t like an NBA focus in the television coverage.
Miami (Fla.) certainly appears to be well past its Dow Jones season of a year ago. This year, the Hurricanes have established themselves as a legitimate top 25 team, and quite likely will continue to be even more than that if they can continue results like their 80-69 win over Duke Monday night.
Another early showdown, this one in the Horizon League, demonstrates that they’re as good and valuable as ones late in the season. Plus another team gives chase in the Horizon, the Utes pull one out, and a MAC team quietly keeps winning.
Whether a team is contending for a conference championship or an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, there is never a bad time or place to win games on the road in conference play.
With teams looking to squeeze in games before Christmas and the holidays, the full schedule of games on Tuesday had the feeling of a Saturday. And boy, did it deliver.
Come mid-March, December 19th may hold a special meaning to more than a few college basketball teams selected to the NCAA Tournament.
