The Basketball Tournament July 19-21 viewing guide

How about the first weekend of The Basketball Tournament, huh? We’ve had 16 and 15-seeds (hits a little too close to home) take their opponents to the final possession, game-winning threes off the glass, violent, rim-rattling jams, and some fantastic storylines behind teams playing for some great causes. If you haven’t tuned in to TBT yet you might as well go jump in the pond, because you’re just being a silly goose. Summer basketball rocks.

But fear not! TBT understands people have jobs, so most of the action happens on the weekends. We had 16 games this past weekend between the Wichita and West Virginia regions, but there are eight more games that still need to be played before we have our Elite Eight representatives from those two regions. These eight games are going to be played Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week.

While the action on the court has been a ton of fun, the one thing this tournament lacks is some type of website, app, or literally anything to help people track current scores and the upcoming schedule. ESPN does not include TBT games on their app, despite its popularity each summer. TBT does not have its own app, and the TBT website shows the scores at the top, but does not include the time remaining in the game. There also doesn’t seem to be a master schedule for TBT, you have no choice but to open up your bracket at bracket.thetournament.com and scroll around until you find the games that are coming up.

So to help everyone (including myself) for the next few days, I decided to throw together a TBT guide for the remaining Wichita and West Virginia regional games, including game times, matchups, and the channels you can find them on.

And for those wondering, Carmen’s Crew (Ohio State alumni) tip off this Friday at 9:00 pm ET against 16-seed Mid-American Unity. If they win that game, they would then play again on Sunday at 4:00 pm ET vs the winner of 8-seed Men of Mackey (Purdue) and 9-seed Ballinteers (Tennessee).

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Monday

Monday’s games are all second-round matchups in the West Virginia region. They will be broadcast on either ESPN2 or ESPN3.

Armored Athlete (4) vs Bucketneers (12)

Armored Athlete has now won at least one game in back-to-back TBT tournaments. Last year they beat Power of the Paw (Clemson) in the first round, and this season they knocked off 13th-seeded HBCUnited, 88-52.

The Bucketneers are an alumni team made up of East Tennessee State alumni, and they shocked the 5-seed War Ready (Auburn alumni) on Sunday, 88-52. They’re no joke.

2:00 pm ET
ESPN3
Charleston, WV

Sideline Cancer (1) vs Fort Wayne Champs (9)

Top-seeded Sideline Cancer was a basket away from being upset by the 16-seeded Founding Fathers in the first round on Sunday before Mo Creek’s corner three rattled in and saved the men in purple, 80-77. They’ll be trying to advance to the second round for the third straight year after finishing as runner-ups last year.

The Fort Wayne Champs advanced after beating Primetime Players 72-61 on Sunday. The 9-seed in the West Virginia region will be given all they can handle Monday with Sideline Cancer.

4:00 pm ET
ESPN3
Charleston, WV

Herd That (3) vs Team 23 (6)

Herd That, a Marshall alumni team led by Jon and Ot Elmore, advanced by beating 14-seed Team DRC (and DRC himself) 85-76 on Saturday. Herd That also employs the services of Middle Tennessee State forward Jacorey Williams, who has been one of the better TBT players in recent years.

Team 23 advanced to the second round after soundly disposing of the 11-seed Georgia Kingz 91-64 on Saturday. They told the media at their press conference that “Everyone wants them to knock out Herd That”

7:00 pm ET
ESPN2
Charleston, WV

Best Virginia (2) vs D2 (7)

Just like Sideline Cancer, Best Virginia was nearly knocked off in the opening round, beating 15-seed WoCo Showtime 70-67. After leading by eight points when the Elam ending was set, the Wofford alumni squad led by Fletcher Magee brought it all the way back to 68-67 before the West Virginia alumni sealed it with the final basket.

D2, made up entirely of former Division-II basketball players, defeated 10-seed Bleed Virginia 68-56 on Saturday to block us from a Best Virginia/Bleed Bleed Virginia second-round matchup.

9:00 pm ET
ESPN2
Charleston, WV

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Tuesday

Tuesday’s games are the two Sweet Sixteen matchups in the Wichita region. They will both be broadcast on ESPN2.

Eberlein Drive (1) vs Florida TNT (5)

Eberlein Drive advanced to the Sweet Sixteen after defeating the 16-seed NG Saints 86-68 on Saturday and then beating the snot out the 9th-seeded Stillwater Stars (Oklahoma State alumni) on Sunday evening. The 2018 TBT runner-ups are hoping to get back to the championship game for the first time in three years.

Florida TNT has been a surprising story, beating the breaks off of 12-seed Kimichi Express on Saturday, 83-59 before upsetting the seemingly underseeded (4-seed) LA Cheaters 92-85 on Sunday evening. Led by former guard Kenny Boynton, Florida TNT could give Eberlein Drive their first real test.

7:00 pm ET
ESPN2
Wichita, KS

Aftershocks (2) vs Team Challenge ALS (3)

Despite home court advantage, the Aftershocks (Wichita State alumni) have not had it easy in either of their first two games. They beat 15th-seeded Ex Pats 60-53 on Friday night before just squeaking past the 10th-seeded Omaha Blue Crew (Creighton Alumni) 76-73 on a steal and layup from Connor Frankamp. The Aftershocks are led by former WSU players Frankamp, Marcus McDuffie, and Rashard Kelly.

Team Challenge ALS won’t be a pushover, however. They were able to pry former Washington/Dallas Mavericks guard Justin Dentmon away from Men of Mackey this summer, and he’s a legit scoring threat. Former Overseas Elite star Jerome Randle did not play in either of ALS’ first two games, but if they get him back he and Dentmon create a dynamic scoring duo. Team Challenge ALS snuck by 14-seed We are D3 67-60 Friday night, and then beat a very talented Arkansas team 69-63 on Saturday to advance again.

9:00 pm ET
ESPN2
Wichita, KS

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Wednesday

Wednesday’s games are the Sweet Sixteen matchups of the West Virginia region, which will not be determined until Monday’s games are complete. They will both be broadcast on ESPN3.

Winner of Sideline Cancer (1) and Fort Wayne Champs (9) vs winner of Armored Athlete (4) and Bucketneers (12)

7:00 pm ET
ESPN3
Charleston, WV

Winner of Herd That (3) and Team 23 (6) vs winner of Best Virginia (2) and D2 (7)

9:00 pm ET
ESPN3
Charleston, WV

Information on all teams, including rosters, can be found on TBT’s website.