Even as a Milwaukee alum, I can admit it’s a good thing the Panthers decided to wait until Saturday to beat Cleveland State. Play-by-play man Jordan Bernfield leaned heavily into the rules on Friday, while Te’Jon Lucas scored 31 points to lead the Panthers to a dramatic overtime win over CSU that definitely would’ve resulted in several drinks “awarded”. If Saturday’s game had been the one on ESPN2, even Wisconsinites’ livers would’ve struggled to survive.
This week, Horizon League Player of the Year sleeper A.J. Bramah takes on Wright State and it’s frontcourt full of League Player of the Year candidates at 9:00 PM Eastern on ESPNU.
Let’s not delay any longer, here are this week’s rules:
The Rules:
If you’re a neutral observer, pick a team. If you’re a WSU/RMU fan, keep reading. Take 5 drinks if your team (or your adopted team) falls behind by 10 for the first time.
- Milwaukee came back to make a game of it after falling behind 23-2, but if things go off the rails we’re gonna need something to make the game a little more palatable.
Take one drink if announcers Jordan Bernfield and David Padgett talk about how little they know about UFC.
- OK, putting this rule in after the Poirier-McGregor fight is a massive failure, but we only had one week of #HLMBBWTO to realize it’d be a staple in their calls. I can absolutely relate to the duo, because I’m putting this rule in with the hope that ESPN will continue to promote UFC during our games and no actual knowledge that there’s a fight big enough to make it happen!
Take one drink if the announcers mention realignment.
- Robert Morris is in its first season in the Horizon League after leaving the Northeast Conference, where it had played since the NEC’s founding in 1981.
Take one drink if the announcers mention the Horizon League Tournament format
- The league announced the basics format on Thursday, while Bob and Matt hypothesized about it (correctly) on last weekend’s HoriZone Roundtable podcast.
Take one drink for every player Wright State subs in for the first time
- This was a good rule two weeks ago that didn’t get to realize its full potential. The Raiders really don’t go deep into the bench unless there’s a blowout.
(Double) Bonus: take two drinks if two or more players have already entered for the first time before this substitution.
- The Raiders have still had a tendency to avoid using more than two or three bench players in competitive games.
Take one drink for every shot Jaylon Hall makes
- Hall began the year as a starter, but has since been moved to the bench. As long as he doesn’t replicate the 7-for-9 performance that he had against Green Bay in late December, this rule shouldn’t hurt too much. He’s usually good for between one and four made baskets per game.
Take one drink every time A.J. Bramah makes a shot from a step inside the 3-point line
- The deep 2-pointer is an important part of Bramah’s game to the point that if an advanced metrics fan watched him play for the first time on a night where the shot wasn’t falling, they would flat out despise him.
Take one drink every time Dante Treacy makes a shot.
- The 2020 NEC Tournament MVP looked like a potential breakout star heading into this season. Unfortunately for the Colonials, that hasn’t worked out because he can’t get his shot to fall consistently.
Open a new drink and finish it if RMU wins.
- Once again, we’re sticking with the underdog rule. At least WSU has shown a tendency to lose TV games unexpectedly!