Forget March Madness, I've Got NIT Fever

Well here we are. I figured I'd throw together a quick post before I go out to celebrate my namesake. Sorry if you've missed me, I know you have, but I just got back from Spring Break. Anyways, after a gut-wrenching, nail biting and downright professional NIT selection show, the news we all were expecting fell upon us. Syracuse, and its mirror program from BMore, the Maryland Terrapins, will be in the NIT. We’ve discussed how similar these teams are (well before deadspin did the same), and how alike the programs have been in the past few years since their respective championships. I’m not surprised to see both teams in the tournament. But as an added surprise, the NIT committee (does that really exist?) has sprinkled the Orange and Terrapins in the same bracket. Somehow, they stuck Maryland with a five seed. SU, sitting at seed No. 1, are aligned to meet the Terrapins in the second round if both teams win. There are two possibilities here.
One is that both teams lose both first round games - Syracuse to Robert Morris and Maryland to Minnesota (the second being no gimme for the Terps). Or they both win and play an epic 5 OT game before the Dome management dismantles the court for the lacrosse team to practice because, well, that squad still has a shot at a legit national tournament. In all seriousness though, it would be pretty fitting for Cuse and Maryland to meet in the second round, and it would be an interesting game considering all of the parallels.

As Andrew pointed out this morning, Seth Greenberg of Virginia Tech made some interesting comments. He really went out on a limb after his team’s loss on Saturday to UNC. It was a great game and the coach clearly was stating his case for the Hokies to receive an NCAA bid. Here’s the video (it seems to be bugging out a little bit, watch it at this link if the video below is giving you trouble)


The problem is, he pissed off some people...and was a bit irrational as Andrew stated. I have to agree with my fellow blogger. One close loss doesn’t make a season. A measly one win against a top-50 RPI team does. Losing to Penn State and Old Dominion does too. I mean, sure, they were on the bubble. But is leaving them out certifiably insane? I don’t think so. It’s just kind of tough to say after a loss, with a thin resume. But hey, come join the NIT party. It’s pretty awesome.

I’m not sure if any readers have seen this new Subway Jared commercial. I’m sure most of you are quite sick of the guy. And now, as if he wasn’t in your face enough, we are assaulted with an advertisement filled with athletes telling you all about Jared and his achievements. By no means am I slandering his weight loss. Good job Jared. It’s impressive. But I just love the commercial. This one seems a bit different from the TV version I’ve seen, where they relentlessly repeat that he ate subway, and throw in a quick reference to exercise also being helpful in losing nearly 250 pounds. But still, what a collection of athletes. Brady Quinn, wrestling’s John Cena? I mean Brady, you’re a backup, maybe you should try learning the playbook instead of doing ads for Jared and Myoplex. Clearly, you’re not half the actor Peyton Manning is.

- Pat