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Before I get to today's schedule, which is highlighted by a completely unexpected final in the Bahamas, I want to take a look back at what happened in the one tournament that was decided yesterday, and two others that are taking Saturday off.
Syracuse claimed the NIT Season Tip-Off with a come-from-behind 69-63 victory over Stanford. It wasn't a pretty game, but it certainly wasn't the ugliest contest of the day (more on that in a moment). With about 5 minutes to go, it looked like the Cardinal was going to have an answer for every comeback attempt the Orange had in them, then Jim Boeheim's team buckled down on defense, and the crowd woke up. Syracuse got an 18-5 run to close the game and overhaul Johnny Dawkins' club. In the consolation game, Virginia Tech held off Oklahoma State, 59-57.
Sunday's Old Spice Classic final will feature Minnesota and Dayton. The Golden Gophers used a big second half to come back and defeat Indiana State, 76-69. The Flyers toppled Fairfield in a mid-major showdown, 56-49. DePaul and won in the consolation bracket. The Blue Demons took care of Texas Tech, 76-70, while Arizona State blitzed Wake Forest into the 7th-place game, 84-56
Saint Louis hit 14 threes en route to defeating Villanova en route to the 76 Classic final, 80-68. They'll meet Oklahoma tomorrow, as the Sooners ran past Santa Clara, 85-73. In the consolation bracket, Boston College needed to rally to defeat UC Riverside, 66-62, and New Mexico relegated Washington State to the 7th-place game, 72-62.
Information on games being played on this college football-focused Saturday are after the jump.
Battle 4 Atlantis Finals
Championship: UCF Knights vs. Harvard Crimson, approx. 4:30 p.m. ET (Versus)
I'm pretty sure this isn't the game the organizers of the Battle 4 Atlantis and the folks at Comcast/NBC had in mind, but both teams certainly earned their way here (with the added benefit of preventing a pair of duplicate games).
UCF took advantage of a long UConn scoring drought to make the Huskies the first top 5 team to lose this season, 68-63. The second semi, however, was apparently painful to watch. (I could only tell based on my Twitter timeline and the live scoring, as I was at Madison Square Garden at the time). Harvard took out Florida State, 46-41. That isn't a high score by any means, but considering the game was tied at 14 at the break, it could have been far worse. The early scores made me wonder whether they had installed old-fashioned peach baskets, complete with bottoms, in the already dark arena at the Atlantis Resort.
In the consolation bracket, College of Charleston squeaked by UNC Asheville, 68-66, and UMass topped Utah, 89-75, meaning the Cougars and Minutemen have a chance to leave the Bahamas with two wins.
The rest of Saturday's Day 3 lineup.
3rd/4th Place: Connecticut Huskies vs. Florida State Seminoles, 2 p.m. ET (Versus)
5th/6th Place: College of Charleston Cougars vs. UMass Minutemen, 7 p.m. ET (HDNet)
7th/8th Place: Utah Utes vs. UNC Asheville Bulldogs, approx. 9:30 p.m. ET(HDNet)
Chicago Invitational Challenge Finals
Championship: BYU Cougars vs.Wisconsin Badgers, approx. 8:30 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network)
The Cougars routed Nevada, 76-55, to set up a showdown with Wisconsin, 66-43 winners over Bradley
Consolation: Nevada Wolf Pack vs. Bradley Braves, 6 p.m. ET (no TV)
In the mid-major bracket, UMKC won its semifinal 64-58 over Wofford, while Longwood took a 70-67 thriller over Prairie View A&M.
Las Vegas Invitational Finals
UNLV pulled away from USC in the second half of their semifinal, 66-55, while, as expected, North Carolina had no trouble with their neighbors from South Carolina, winning 87-62.
Championship: North Carolina Tar Heels vs. UNLV Runnin' Rebels, approx. 10:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2) (link)
Consolation: USC Trojans vs. South Carolina Gamecocks, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
Both mid-major semis were decided by a point. Mississippi Valley State slipped past Tennessee State, 90-89, and Cal Poly escaped Morgan State, 62-61.
South Padre Invitational Day 2
Providence and Rice swap dance partners on the final day of this event. Yesterday, the Owls fell to Northern Iowa, 64-60, and Iowa State took care of the Friars, 64-54.
Iowa State Cyclones vs. Rice Owls, 7:30 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)
Northern Iowa Panthers vs. Providence Friars, approx. 10 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)
In the mid-major semifinals (no opponent swapping here), Southern got by Florida A&M, 64-61, and Northern Colorado blew out Western Carolina, 74-57.
Great Alaska Shootout Finals
Murray State will meet Southern Miss in tonight's final in Anchorage. The Racers slipped past San Francisco, 70-67, while the Golden Eagles defeated New Mexico State, 80-72. Dartmouth defeated host Alaska-Anchorage, 64-52, to condemn the Seawolves to the 7th place game, where they will meet UC Irvine, 82-72 losers to Central Michigan.
Championship: Murray State Racers vs. Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles, approx. 12 a.m. ET (MASN/FCS Pacific)
3rd/5th Place: San Francisco Dons vs. New Mexico State Aggies, 9:30 p.m. ET (MASN/FCS Pacific)
4th/6th Place: Dartmouth Big Green vs. Central Michigan Chippewas, approx. 6:30 p.m. ET
7th/8th Place: UC Irvine Anteaters at Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves, 4 p.m. ET
As always, please feel free to discuss today's action in the comments.
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