The late game on the second Monday of February

For the first time in my collegiate career, the first time since 2005, and only the 13th time overall in the 56-year history of the tournament, the Northeastern Huskies will be playing in the 8 PM game.

The matchup tonight is interesting for a couple reasons. First, the Rat Dogs are ranked #1 while Northeastern will likely be ranked #2 by the time the poll comes out later this afternoon. Both of these teams are eyeing the Frozen Four, and they have to play each other twice in upcoming league action. Those two games will probably determine who takes the HEA regular season crown. Jack Parker's Silly Nannies have won the tournament with greater frequency than the other teams combined, and ended the Huskies' most recent attempt at the championship with a 2-1 OT win.

Also, the "fans" from Comm. Ave. are some of the most annoying fans in sports. Bear in mind that most of these "fans" are also bandwagon Red Sox fans. In addition to owning ugly Boston jerseys and overblown senses of entitlement, they probably also have those ridiculous "We beat LA" shirts. Although the Husky fanbase has gotten a bit bandwagon-y as of late (blame the freshmen), many of us are grizzled from years of disappointment and failure. This should make for an electric atmosphere at the Garden this evening.

I've mentioned, ad nauseum, NU's historic futility, so I won't go into that. Just understand that this tourney was founded in 1952, just four years after the NCAA tournament, yet in a four team tournament, NU has won four times.

Sine labore nihil, but should the Huskies pull this one out, more than one generation of Northeastern fans will breathe a sigh of relief...and possibly drink through classes tomorrow.