Basketball is almost back! In just a few weeks, The Basketball Tournament will take center stage in the sports world. Although there will be no fans in attendance in Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH, the Dayton fanbase should be ready to get LOWD again from their couches and dad-chairs.
Earlier today, TBT announced the 24 team bracket in their selection show. We kind of figured that The Red Scare was going to get in, so it was a matter of waiting to see when their name will be called. TBT did an awesome job of just revealing the teams about five minutes into the show with the seeds. The top 8 seeds in TBT were given a first-round bye. How they determined this is beyond my pay grade, and I don’t get paid. It was then announced that The Red Scare would be playing as an 8-seed, giving them the final first-round bye.
I don’t know about you, but I was shocked to see them getting a bye. We all know this team has potential to be really good after winning two games in last year’s tournament as a 3-seed before falling to the Ohio State Alumni Team, Carmen’s Crew, in the regional final. Nonetheless, the boys got that first-round bye, which is huge in a tournament like this where it is pedal to the metal in every game in a do-or-die format. Last year’s team was good and had the talent, but they lacked the depth to play three games in three days, which was their downfall in the second half against Carmen’s Crew. We will get more into that later on as we get closer to tourney time.
Since The Red Scare was awarded the first round bye, they get to watch the game of who their first opponent will be between Big X and Jackson TN Underdawgs. Big X is the Big 10’s version of a TBT team, while the Jackson TN Underdawgs are just a team from small town Jackson, TN, who were the last team selected in TBT.
The exact date of The Red Scare’s first game is between July 6-9, but we are unsure about times yet. All games will be broadcasted on ESPN.
Photo Credit to The Red Scare TBT team.