BEVERLY HILLS (MI) — Had some trouble coming up with a headline for this NIT Semi-Finals edition of “From the Swamp.”
“New York State of Mind”
Yeah, we coulda gone with the old Billy Joel song, but that title was already used to powerfully poor effect by this hack from IllinoisLoyalty.com:
http://www.illinoisloyalty.com/GoIllini/20100323_illini_in_a_new_york_state_of_mind
Not that Bruce Weber and company weren’t totally looking right past the Flyers or anything, right?
“New York, New York”
Nahhh. Reminds me too much of Yankee Stadium after a pinstripe victory.
How about “The Big Apple” by Molly Hatchet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMquKJ9r0z4
How about no.
I’ve always preferred to refer to New York as “The City So Great They Named It Twice” so we have a winner, folks.
Okay, what exactly does anybody around here know about the University of Mississippi basketball team? The Runnin’ Rebs are coached by Andy Kennedy, yet another balding coach from Cincy, who had the unenviable task of trying to replace his boy Huggy Bear at UC. He’s in his 4th year at the helm in Oxford.
The Runnin’ Rebels boast a 24-10 record and have beaten Troy, Memphis and Texas Tech to advance to the Final Four of the 73rd annual NIT. The 24 wins are tied for the second-most ever by any Mississippi team.
Dayton doesn’t have a lot of history with Ole Miss. The two schools have met only once before, with the Flyers claiming a 72-70 home victory in the old Dayton Invitational early-season tournament in December 1980.
Both teams played in the Puerto Rico Tipoff last fall, but never faced each other. Ole Miss beat Indiana and K-State (by 14) and lost to Villanova in the Championship Game. The Rebels didn’t exactly overburden themselves in the OOC, squaring off against the likes of Alabama State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Arkansas State, McNeese State, Jacksonville State and Robert Parish U AKA Centenary.
They don’t have a lot of history in the NIT, either. 2010 marks only their 9th appearance and they have an overall NIT record of 13-8. UD, of course, is making their 22nd appearance and sports an overall slate of 38-20, with NIT crowns in 1962 and 1968.
Dayton should have a slight advantage in that they faced the Fordham
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
Established: 1841
Location: Bronx, NY
Enrollment: 16,986
Type: Private Research
Affiliation: Catholic (Jesuit)
Nickname: Rams
Colors: Maroon and White Rams at MSG earlier this year, so at least the Fly Guys know where to find the locker rooms, are familiar with the shooting background and stuff like that. I figure that might be worth a point vs. Ole Miss in the overall scheme of things.
While you’re waiting for Tuesday evening to roll around, you can follow Flyer recruit Devin Oliver and the Kalamazoo Central HS Maroon Giants in their quest for the Michigan Class A High School crown Friday afternoon at 2:50PM:
Video linky goodness:
Live Blog Link (for those stuck at work like me):
If Devin and KC win Friday, they play for all the marbles at 4:00PM Saturday afternoon. I’ll be at my nephew Dave’s wedding in Cincy, so somebody text me the results.
Or you can click here and watch the excellent tribute on DaytonFlyers.com to the Class of 2010:
Or if you really have a lot of time on your hands, watch Devin’s Class of 2010 teammate Brandon Spearman lead Chicago Simeon to the Illinois AAAA State Championship:
http://www.ihsa.tv/events/10253
Come Tuesday, should the Flyers dispatch the Kennedy Clan, the next big question is who do you root for in the nightcap for the honor of facing UD in the finals?
— Do we want to play nice with our A-10 brethren and cheer for the Rhody
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
Established: 1892
Location: Kingston, RI
Enrollment: 18,061
Type: Public Land Grant Research
Affiliation: None
Nickname: Rams
Colors: Navy Blue and Keaney Blue Rams?
— Or do we say screw it and go for the big name in the big game and pull for UNC?
The way I look at it is that UD plays URI at least once (and some years twice or possibly three times) every freakin’ season. North Carolina? Not so much.
Give me a freakin’ heapin’ helpin’ of Tar Heels, please.
“From the Swamp” Prediction:
Runnin’ Rebels 68
Flyboys in Black 75
That’s it “From the Swamp.”
You can email me at: [email protected]
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