Sign me up for more basketball.

Given that the last tweet on the team's twitter site after the MAC tournament was "Thank you for the continuous support this season. See you next year.", I'd guess that Ohio was as surprised as anyone to receive the bid. I wonder if they've even practiced since last Wednesday.

But if Ohio was surprised, Kent State must have been stunned at their invite. After being excluded from the league tournament, they find themselves in post-season play, while three teams that played in the MAC tournament were left out.

Both teams may have been the unexpected beneficiaries of the NCAA going to 68 teams in the women's tournament this year. That had the effect of opening up four more WNIT spots.

I was absolutely shocked when I saw this. Are the WNIT standards weaker than the Men's for some reason?

Well, for starters, the WNIT is wholly owned by a for profit travel and event company. They figure crowds and cost into the equation. Schools must agree to certain stipulations and cover cost. Not a flat $50K like the CBI, but schools have to be willing to go and every year schools turn them down, some schools the cost can run into six figures. But in the WNIT, you pay for travel and such. Men's NIT is covered cost of the tournament.

That's another reason

I was surprised that Toledo didn't get in the NCAA tournament. The MAC has had two teams in a few times in the last five years or so. Toledo seemed very worthy. One year, not too long ago, the MAC had two teams reach the Sweet 16.

The game can be watched on Midco Sports Plus.
https://midcosports.com/streaming /

Not sure I want to spend even $5.99 to watch one game, but it's a lot cheaper option than the men's game.

hate to be "that guy", but we'll have a radio feed of the game on all of Ohio's social channels (Twitter, YouTube, Facebook etc.) if you don't want to pay the $5.

However, maybe I'd spend the $5 to avoid my voice too.

Surrounded by the stench of manure,
- Jake

Massey heavily favors SDSU, giving Ohio just a 15% win chance with a projected score of 64-77. The Jackrabbits are ranked #43 by Massey, with the Bobcats at #116. SDSU was 17-1 in conference play, but lost to South Dakota in the tournament finals, 56-45. They were 3-7 against non-conference D1 opponents, but played a very tough schedule.

South Dakota State is among the leaders in NCAA 3-point shooting percentage at .392, and in overall shooting, at .478. They start four players who are either 6'0" or 6'1". but have no one above that height that plays regularly. They lost their starting point guard, Paige Meyer, to a knee injury in the final regular season game, and she did not play in the Summit League tournament. She is a scorer as well as a distributor, so if she can't play tonight it will hurt the Jacks' chances.

They do a good job of getting out in transition, and in the half-court attack the rim well, kicking the ball out to one of their three-point shooters when they are stopped inside. It looks like this game will be a test of Ohio speed and quickness against the Jackrabbits size and shooting ability.

Final SDSU 87, Ohio 57. The Jackrabbits finally reverted to their 3-point shooting form late in the third quarter, blowing the game open with a flurry of threes. Ohio could not respond, ending up with 4-30 shooting from three. Boldon pulled all of the starters with 5 minutes left in the game. Hooks 18 points on 7-20 shooting, Felder 20 on 10-14.