The Basketball Tournament 2018: Midwest & Northeast Region First Round Viewing Guide

We get another stacked up day full of basketball today as The Basketball Tournament runs out the first round in the final two regions. As was the case last weekend, we get one region with eight first round games, and another with just six thanks to the Big East pod in Milwaukee at the start of July.

It’s an early start at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, partially because they have eight games to fit in and partially because ESPN will be televising three games. ESPN’s commercial break requirements are much more stringent than the “requirements” for ESPN3. Things get started at 7:10am (!) Central Time in Columbus and won’t wrap up until nearly 10pm. There’s six college alumni teams in action, including an 8/9 matchup between Cincinnati and Texas Tech. The most notable game of the day is probably the Scarlet & Gray contest at 3pm CT, as the Ohio State alumni squad is STACKED with dudes, including the anticipated performance of Greg Oden. Of course, Sad Pitt Bear will be ready and waiting if Zoo Crew, led by Levance Fields, ends up going out early to #10 seed Jackson TN Underdawgs.

Over at the campus of LIU-Brooklyn, there’s only six games, so things will get started a little bit later. With that said, though, the first two games of the day are of the biggest interest to Marquette fans. The winners of Game #1 and Game #2 will face off on Sunday to determine who advances to the Super 16 and a date with Golden Eagles on Saturday, July 28. The big name in the Northeast, of course, is Boeheim’s Army, the squad of Syracuse alums. However, I think it’s a safe bet that Gael Nation, the Iona alumni team, and Saints Alive, the Siena team, will also draw decent crowds to the Steinberg Wellness Center. The only question at that point, is how many of the 2,000 chairs will be occupied by Orange fans? That could end up tilting a game or two.

Here’s the schedule for the day, split into Midwest and Northeast regions. All times Central and all games streamed on WatchESPN/ESPN3.