Well what do you know, the day got away from us. But there's basketball starting soon!

Yes, it might not be the NCAA Tournament to the purists, but it's at a neutral site and there are brackets involved, so that's good enough for me.

That, and a Big Ten team plays tonight! What can that wacky Indiana get up to with its shot to get into the main draw of the NCAA Tournament? Will we see the start of a magical run, or a one and done who maybe should have given way for a team like Xavier or Oklahoma?

Screw it, who cares, there's basketball to be played.

NCAA Tournament First Four

UD Arena (Dayton, OH)

All times CT.

[16] Texas Southern Tigers vs. [16] Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders
5:40pm | truTV | Southern -3.5 | O/U 136.5

[12] Indiana Hoosiers vs. [12] Wyoming Cowboys
8:10pm | truTV | Indiana -4.5 | O/U 132.5

BuffKomodo: Here we go! Everybody buckle up, because the moment we’ve been clamoring for for the last 6 years is finally here: Indiana is back in the NCAA Tournament! Yeah, it’s a play in game, but who cares! Meaningful basketball in March!

To be honest, I’m not sure about Wyoming, but what I do know is that the Indiana team we saw in the last game of the season, to a larger extent the Rutgers game, and in the Big Ten Tournament is not a team to trifle with. Indiana was a championship level and has been capable of being a championship level team all year. They’ve gotten a few rotten bounces, had things not break their way, and this were left fighting for their lives. Let there be no mistake though, Indiana was well within position this year to win 6 more conference games, and had they closed them out would have been co champs.

We don’t deal in almosts, though. I only say that last part to illustrate Indiana isn’t just, some run of the mill 12 seed. Anyone who treats them as such runs a risk of losing badly, and even treating them with respect can yield bad results for you (see B1G tournament results). Yes, Indiana is fully capable of egg laying (see the Michigan game from January). Yes, they can’t shoot. But their defense is damn good and they’re playing the best ball of the season right now. They have 2 shooters who are due great shooting performances (Stewart, Kopp). TJD and XJ sound hungry, and Race and Rob and Trey are the glue that stick it all together.

I think this pseudo-home game versus Wyoming will be a good send off for them and will be a good game to watch. Wyoming is a tournament team so they won’t bow down, but I do expect Indiana to win in the end. Go Hoosiers.

Here's your open thread for the night's basketball. There's also NIT, CBI, and some new beautiful abomination called The Basketball Classic—I just ran out of time to preview them— that you can watch on the ESPN family of networks. Do it here, and do so responsibly.

It's March. Enjoy.