CBI 2012 Schedule: Must-See Championship for Basketball Purists

You might be a basketball nerd if you plan on watching the CBI championship between Pittsburgh and Washington State.

Or a degenerate gambler.

Or a fan or alumni of either school.

I won't judge you one way or another. But let's return to the basketball nerds for a second.

I know, I know, you're a sports fan—you think "nerd" has a negative connotation. You're a basketball "purist," or a "stat junkie" or a self-described "sports historian."

You're watching Pittsburgh vs. Washington State to analyze the clash of strategies, to see whether Pitt seniors like Ashton Gibbs and Nasir Robinson can finish off solid Pitt careers on a high note in a season generally devoid of them.

You're watching to see if Washington State can really beat Pittsburgh even though they didn't have leading scorer Brock Motum for Game 1 and may not have him for Game 2 on Wednesday evening.

Hell, you're probably watching because the CBI is the only tournament going that has a best-of-three tournament championship round.

Oh, and if you've been nodding along as you read the last three paragraphs, guess what—you're a college basketball nerd.

Embrace it—it's a good thing. You have a deep passion for the game. You enjoy the obscure tournaments along with the mainstream ones like the NCAA tournament. You need your college basketball fix until the Final Four this weekend, I get it.

Be proud of your basketball nerdom. Never be ashamed of your passions. Frankly, I find the notion of Pittsburgh having two games at home to overcome a Game 1 loss a fascinating concept when contrasted with the one-and-done NIT and NCAA tournament.

The CBI is like finding a vintage movie theater that plays old, obscure horror films. They may not be for everyone—and frankly, they probably aren't all that good—but that doesn't bother you. You like the genre one way or another, and frankly all of the reasons they are bad are all of the reasons they are sort of fun to watch.

So enjoy catching the CBI on HDNet. Embrace your inner nerd, you purists, stat junkies and historians. You're safe here.

Here's the schedule for the remaining two games:

Game	Date	Time	Location	Television
Two	3/28/12	7 p.m. EDT	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	HDNet
Three (if necessary)	3/30/12	7 p.m. EDT	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	HDNet

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