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I was wrong*: Basketball Conference Tournament Open Thread, and making fun of the Pac-12

On Gonzaga-St. Mary’s, the thrill of the Patriot League final, and learning about new TV channels you’ll never use again.

NCAA Basketball: West Coast Conference Tournament-Gonzaga vs Saint Mary’s Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Well, I was wildly incorrect.

Sorry to anyone using my sage advice for betting on the Gonzaga Bulldogs—Saint Mary’s came out in the West Coast Conference Tournament final and did exactly what they do: Pack the paint, take the air out of the ball, and make timely shots. And it worked like a fucking charm.

Stephen A. Smith voice: HOWEVAH! [/makes 20 minute argument that a Washington football team punter is actually a quarterback]

...where was I? Oh yes: HOWEVAH! That was not a good basketball game. You are fooling only yourself if you think a knockoff, West Coast version of Bennettball is in any way “good basketball”. You are wrong, an idiot, and silly.

How’s that for an OTE admission of incorrectitude incorrection incorrectness?

Poll

Was MNW actually wrong about Gonzaga-SMC?

This poll is closed

  • 31%
    Yes, but not really
    (33 votes)
  • 8%
    No, and anyone who says so is a dumb idiot
    (9 votes)
  • 60%
    I haven’t seen OTEing this good since the last Sunday Morning Coming Down
    (64 votes)
106 votes total Vote Now

What’s on today?

Lots of things, bold header guy!

  • More ACC Dregs? You betcha! Today we’ve got the Clemson Tigers, a team so bad Nebraska beat them, taking on N.C. State Wolfpack, a team so bad wisconsin beat them! My logic says NC State should win by a couple, but what good is that? Anyways, a doubleheader of ACC Tournament nonsense on ESPN starting at 11am. Fun!
  • Mountain Mediocrity: Both the Big Sky Tournament and Mountain West Tournament tip off today! For those of you who missed it yesterday, Sacramento State and Northern Arizona start, for some ungodly reason, from Boise at 9:30am GTZ-1, while Colorado State and Boise State tip off in Vegas at 1pm CT. The former is on something called Pluto TV, the latter is on Stadium. Don’t get Stadium? We’ll you’re a big dum-dum.

Poll

To kick off my morning, I will watch...

This poll is closed

  • 3%
    Sac State-NAU, right away at 10:30am, on whatever I can get them on! Bring on basketball!
    (3 votes)
  • 22%
    Probably just the ACC on ESPN. I can mute Dakich and it’s not that bad, honest.
    (19 votes)
  • 46%
    I am a DILIGENT WORKER, sir, and I am outraged that you would suggest I sluff off my work responsibilities!
    (39 votes)
  • 26%
    Meh. Probably just porn.
    (22 votes)
83 votes total Vote Now
  • Pac-12 Grift! Just go read this piece on Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott as the Pac-12 Tournament tips off in Vegas. [Spoiler: There’s a $7,500-a-night suite involved.] Anyway, Arizona and USC, two formerly-proud programs now under various investigations for things including one which have forced me to remember how big of a crush I had on Aunt Becky, tip off at 2pm. Also, let’s laugh at the ignominy of the once-proud UCLA Bruins now being reduced to a smoking husk, playing at 8pm as the higher seed against the Stanford Cardinal...who are favored in this game.
    It’s on Pac-12 Network, though, so unless you have FuboTV like I do (only $45/mo, and I swear, worth it, especially if you like soccer), forget about watching this.

Poll

Does your TV/streaming/cable subscription include the Pac-12 Network?

This poll is closed

  • 15%
    Yes
    (18 votes)
  • 46%
    No
    (53 votes)
  • 37%
    I thought we had to stop answering these dumbass polls after football season ended.
    (42 votes)
113 votes total Vote Now
  • Various East Coast things! Atlantic 10 tips off, but Richmond is no longer that good, and Fordham, who you’ll remember beat Rutgers, takes them on at 2:30pm on ESPN+. The mighty Rams went 3-15 in the A10.

Poll

Did you enjoy remembering these facts?

This poll is closed

  • 84%
    lolrutgers
    (86 votes)
  • 15%
    no, get to the SEC and Big XII games
    (16 votes)
102 votes total Vote Now
  • PATRIOT LEAGUE TITLE GAME: Go Colgate (and Rapolas Ivanauskas)! Beat Bucknell. Game’s on CBSSN at 6:30pm. It’s good hoops—go watch.
  • The Big East starts tonight! That’s actually exciting, as I am a noted Marquette Golden Eagles fan. They, however, were competent enough to avoid this round. Instead, that goes to Butler and Providence, who will play a game in which I will still kinda wrinkle my nose at Ed Cooley despite alopecia being a totally natural thing and not at all his fault, then feel really, really guilty for doing it, because again, totally normal.
    DePaul-St. John’s tips off at 8:30 on FS1, too, and those two teams will play a hot mess of fast basketball with no actual organization or structure to it, save for Chris Mullin yelling a lot and Shamorie Ponds still probably being very good.
  • SEC and Big XII. Whatever, it’s not the good teams yet, anyways. Except for Oklahoma State, maybe? They play West Virginia, who have completely fallen apart this year. No idea what Huggy Bear is up to.
  • More ACC? Sure! Pittsburgh and Syracuse, 8pm on ESPN2. That might be fun.

Poll

When Northwestern-Illinois makes you want to die, which of these other tournaments might you watch?

This poll is closed

  • 4%
    SEC
    (5 votes)
  • 8%
    Big XII
    (9 votes)
  • 19%
    Big East
    (20 votes)
  • 11%
    ACC
    (12 votes)
  • 14%
    Patriot League final! Go Colgate!
    (15 votes)
  • 1%
    C-USA on ESPN+ for me, MNW! Woo!
    (2 votes)
  • 40%
    I TOLD YOU, I DON’T GET THE PAC-12 NETWORK
    (42 votes)
105 votes total Vote Now

But what about the Big Ten Tournament?

We’ve got previews of that coming up later today. In the meantime sit back, don’t actually do work at work, and enjoy the worst in basketball the country has to offer today!

Oh and we did some BTT primers, if you want to read those.

The Schedule

*I have no idea how North Texas-Florida International and Rice-Marshall can tip off within 30 minutes of each other, both in the C-USA Tournament, held at the FORD CENTER AT THE STAR (per ESPN) in Frisco. If you know, please inform us in the comments.

Here’s your open thread until Nebraska and Rutgers tip off at 5:30pm. Behave.