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Virtual NCAA Tournament First Round #1 Baylor vs. #16 Boston - via @redditCBB

A little something to fill the void of March Madness!

NCAA Basketball: Texas Tech at Baylor Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports

So for those that haven’t been following it, the people over at the subreddit, r/CollegeBasketball have been putting on a really great virtual NCAA tournament using updated College Hoops 2K8 rosters. They premiere the games live on YouTube so that everyone watching can join in the chat and watch the game for the first time together. The streams have been getting large live audiences, DraftKings has created betting pools for the tournament, and a lot of actual teams have started taking notice, with examples such as the voice of the Texas Tech Red Raiders getting in on a game winning virtual shot in the first four round:

You can check out the full bracket here and more information about the tournament here (the time for the Baylor game hasn’t been updated on the bracket, it will premiere on YouTube at 9 PM CT).

How to Watch

The game is scheduled to go live tonight at 9 PM CT on the YouTube channel linked here.

Keys to the Game

Baylor was in a bit of a slump to end the season thanks to injuries and fatigue... luckily our digital guys shouldn’t have any problems with that! I expect virtual Jared Butler and MaCio Teague to have big games, putting up video game-like numbers. I’ll also be excited to see how well a healthy Tristan Clarke can play. Who knows, maybe some virtual Matthew Mayer time will be in store as well?

Boston University got a huge win over South Carolina back in November. They also played West Virginia and lost by 25... so they’ve had some ups and downs! They won the Patriot League conference tournament (which was completed before the coronavirus cancellations), defeating Colgate 64-61.

As a 1 vs 16 game, Baylor should win this one easily. But with virtual madness, who knows!

Prediction

78-72 Baylor