Or is it…Week Tip(sy)-off?
I already geeked out about the INSANE quarterfinal round the Horizon League had last week in Friday’s Power Rankings, so I’ll keep that to a minimum today…though they’ll obviously be featured in the rules. The last time we played I severely underestimated how big of a part Dick Vitale would play in the ESPN broadcast. That combined with a Detroit Mercy upset of Cleveland State made for a pretty sloppy night.
This week, we’ve got one matchup we’ve already seen on #HLMBBWTO between Milwaukee and Cleveland State plus a game between two teams we haven’t seen at all on the nationally televised league games. We’ll be focusing on the OU-NKU game for a couple reasons. First, it’s the late game, starting at 9:30 PM Eastern. Second, it features a pair of teams we haven’t seen yet this season instead of two teams we’ve already seen play against each other on the specific network that’s airing the semifinals. Outside of a brief comeback attempt, that was one of the bigger #HLMBBWTO duds of the year.
In the interest of not killing everyone, we’ll focus on the game between Northern Kentucky and Oakland. With that said, if you’re insane you can use the rules we played with for Milwaukee-CSU the first time.
Let’s jump into the game:
The Rules
Take one drink for each mention of a game from last week’s quarterfinals.
- Between Cleveland State’s triple overtime win over Purdue Fort Wayne, Milwaukee’s miraculous 24-point comeback, Northern Kentucky’s buzzer beater, and Oakland’s overshadowed overtime victory; last week was loaded with incredible games that a conference tournament is lucky to get one of over its entire run.
Take one drink if the announcers mention the 2019 Horizon League semifinals.
- Two years ago, NKU eliminated Oakland in the league semifinals with a Drew McDonald 3-pointer with less than two seconds to play.
(Double) Bonus: Take two drinks if they show video of the 2019 shot.
Take two drinks if Trey Townsend wins the opening tip.
- Despite the freshman’s size and playing style more closely resembling that of a wing, he handles tipoff duties for the Golden Grizzlies. Impressively, he actually wins the tip fairly often.
Take one drink if Daniel Oladapo gets an offensive rebound.
- Oladapo led the league in offensive rebounds with over four per game for the Golden Grizzlies in league play. He will have a serious challenge in the semifinals...
Take one drink if Adrian Nelson gets an offensive rebound.
- Across from Oladapo is NKU’s Adrian Nelson, who led the league in defensive rebounds. But again I need to stress that I’m not trying to kill anyone, so we’re drinking every time he hits the offensive glass instead of basing it on his eight defensive rebounds per game.
Take one drink if Noah Hupmann plays.
- Despite the team’s lack of size, NKU’s seven-footer has had a surprisingly large role for a freshman walk-on on a team that’s struggling to find room in its rotation for several more experienced players.
If you’re a neutral fan, pick a team to root for. Take three drinks if you’re rooting for NKU and Blake Lampman hits a 3-pointer for Oakland. Take three drinks if you’re rooting for Oakland and Adam Eleeda hits a 3-pointer for Northern Kentucky.
- Both teams have players brought in for their 3-point shooting prowess who have struggled to find their shots in college. If your team happens to be on the wrong end of a hot night for either at this point in the season? You’ll need to hurry up and drink.
Open a new drink and finish it in the event of an upset
- I’ll let you get creative with this one. NKU had more wins and less losses than Oakland in Horizon League play, arguably making an OU win an upset. But due to imbalanced scheduling Oakland got the 3-seed and Northern Kentucky the 4. If a seedline upset is an upset to you, run with it. The Norse are favored in Vegas, at the time of this article they’re -1.5. If Vegas odds dictate a favorite to you, go with that instead!