Running 2023-24 NCAA Basketball Thread

The NCCAA is for holy roller schools whose administrations think the NAIA is unacceptably onerous.

 

It’s always a line between me and my dad. We’ll be talking about some girls basketball game that ended like 78-9. And then you see that the team that scored nine somehow has a win. And you wonder WHO did they possibly beat? And then search online to see if you can find that team's season scores.

 

Some small Christian colleges hold dual membership in the NAIA and the NCCAA.

 

One of the most awkward arguments I ever had with a publisher was NCCAA-related.

We were doing a special "book" (more like a glorified magazine, but that's not important) on best local sports moments since the 1950s. Our local softball team won a ton of NCCAA championships. It's a joke. It's like an eight-team tournament, no qualification necessary.

I stupidly bring it up, but in dismissive jest, and he's like, "Hey, they won a national championship. Let's include them."

And I respond, "No. Their inclusion will diminish actual accomplishments elsewhere in the book. They play in an all-comers bullshit tournament."

"THEY WON A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP," he insisted.

"THEY WON A BULLSHIT NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP," I retorted, though noting he was getting pissed at my dismissiveness. We literally had a staredown for a few seconds in front of my EE and the ad director. They were scared of the publisher and I could tell by the look on their faces that I was traipsing way beyond what he was typically used to in terms of pushback.

Quickly, the neurons in my brain began firing with things like "not a hill to die on", "who gives a fuck?", "make someone else on-staff write that part", and most important, "he signs your paycheck".

So I relented and said, "You're the boss. If you want them in, they're in."

Fuck the NCCAA.

 

"National championship" in quotes.

 

Heh ... we think alike. That could be dangerous.

 

As someone who was the starting second baseman on a 1981 North Dakota Class E or Class F slowpitch state titlist (I forget which), no championships are meaningless!!

Seriously, we were like 4-25 or something in the regular season, just horrible, but we were lumped into a league with much better teams and lost a lot of close games. But since ND is so small, they have statewide tournaments in about 5-6 classifications.

We won two games in Bismarck to qualify, then went to Minot for a 128-team, single-elimination tournament. We win twice on Saturday and then win five in a row on Sunday, playing back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back games.

 

A federal judge has issued a 14-day injunction that allows players that were denied waivers as second-time transfers to play immediately. This should inject some chaos into the next two weeks of games.

Ruling favors NCAA athletes seeking 2nd transfer

 

Partial list of now eligible players:

 

Now do Bill Self.

 

So is there any way that Juwan Howard survives his latest pants-shitting at Michigan? Feels very much like a Bobby Knight scenario, where there's a zero-tolerance policy handed down, then the coach just can't help himself from getting into a bad situation.