After a mostly encouraging first OGT on Championship Week, here we go again. Being a Friday night, it is virtually barren of meaningful Bubble Games (actually, it's completely barren), but there are oodles and oodles of conference tournament games. A bunch.
Use this as your OGT for al things Championship Week, today.
We'll be adding some more, random sections to the CW previews as the "Week" progresses. All in an effort to be as comprehensive as possible, of course.
Championship Week
As always, times listed are EST.
CW Game of the Day: #3 Murray State vs. #2 Austin Peay (ESPNU, 9 PM) Ohio Valley Semis -- There wasn't a whole lot of great selection, and I didn't really want to pick a quarterfinal matchup. So, I went here. Peay swept the Racers, but Murray State is the much better team, if you listen to KenPom. Austin Peay narrowly escaped getting upset on Tuesday in the quarters; let's see if they can't rebound.
Player to Watch: F Lester Hudson (UT-Martin) -- I'm sure most have read his story, by now, but if not, check it out. Basically, the dude is mad talented, but grew up in the wrong part of Memphis with the wrong influences, and had some wrong turns along the way. Still, he has enough talent to play in the NBA, and it's a delight to watch him play. I hope that UT-Martin can make it to the NCAA Tournament, just so he gets shown off. He has the talent to scare some 2 seed, though, in the first round.
With all of that said, the complete schedule listing is posted after the break...
America East (First Round) -- Albany
#9 Hartford vs. #8 Maine (7 PM)
Atlantic Sun (Semifinals) -- Nashville
#3 Belmont vs. #2 East Tennessee State (FullCourt/ESPN360, 7 PM)
#4 Lipscomb vs. #1 Jacksonville (FullCourt/ESPN360, 9:30 PM)
Colonial (First Round) -- Richmond
#9 Delaware vs. #8 Georgia State (12 PM)
#12 UNC-Wilmington vs. #5 Hofstra (2:30 PM)
#10 William & Mary vs. #7James Madison (6 PM)
#11 Towson vs. #6 Drexel (8:30 PM)
Horizon League (Quarterfinals) -- Indianapolis
#5 UW-Milwaukee vs. #4 Wright State (6 PM)
#7 Illinois-Chicago vs. #3 Cleveland State (8 PM)
Metro Atlantic (First Round) -- Albany
#9 Canisius vs. #8 Loyola (Md.) (7:30 PM)
#10 Marist vs. #7 Iona (9:30 PM)
Missouri Valley (Quarterfinals) -- St. Louis
#9 Indiana State vs. #1 Northern Iowa (FSMW, 1 PM)
#5 Southern Illinois vs. #4 Bradley (FSMW, 3:30 PM)
#7 Wichita State vs. #2 Creighton (FSMW, 7 PM)
#6 Evansville vs. #3 Illinois State (FSMW, 9:30 PM)
Ohio Valley (Semifinals) -- Nashville
#4 Morehead State vs. #1 UT-Martin (ESPNU, 7 PM)
#3 Murray State vs. #2 Austin Peay (ESPNU, 9 PM)
Southern (First Round) -- Chattanooga
S5 Georgia Southern vs. N4 Appalachian State (2 PM)
N6 UNC-Greensboro vs. S3 College of Charleston (4:30 PM)
N5 Elon vs. S4 Wofford (7 PM)
S6 Furman vs. N3 Samford (9:30 PM)
West Coast (Quarterfinals) -- Vegas
#8 Loyola Marymount vs. #5 San Diego (9 PM)
#7 San Fransisco vs. #6 Pepperdine (11:30 PM)
OK, finally, that's all. A jam-packed slate ahead of y'all; as usual, I should be checking in around 6 PM, CST. Hope to see this place jamming about by then. First tip is at 12 EST, 11 CST, so this OGT opens an hour before, this time: at 10 CST. An hour to talk until you're blue about Delaware-Georgia State.
In total, there are 23 Championship Week games today. 11 First Rounders (America East, Colonial, MAAC and Southern), 8 Quarterfinals (Horizon, Valley, WCC) and 4 Semifinals (A-Sun and OVC). Not bad, not bad.
The A-Sun semis, OVC semis and Valley quarters are all televised, if you're interested. That's all, though. The rest are only GameCast-able.
The Race for 4,000 begins...NOW!