New Mexico State Highlights Great Alaska Shootout Field
As if 13 or 14 hours of basketball on a Saturday, or in this case the long Thanksgiving weekend, is not enough, the Great Alaska Shootout gives fans even more hoops watching options. New Mexico State highlights a somewhat watered down version of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout compared to last year’s field that featured St. John’s and Arizona State.
This year the Aggies are joined by Murray State, Dartmouth, San Francisco, UC Irvine, Southern Mississippi, Central Michigan and, of course, host Alaska Anchorage. It is not a horrible field with teams like Murray State, Southern Mississippi and Central Michigan looking to sport pretty solid squads. The Aggies will matchup with CMU on Thanksgiving and follow that game up with either the Anteaters or the Golden Eagles the following day.
The Great Alaska Shootout has lost some of its luster over the years, but it is still a fun little tournament. With the games on so late, for us East coasters at least, there is not much competition from other games. Thanksgiving Day tends to be relatively quiet in the collegiate sports world with just a couple of other tournaments running and a few football games. With enough TVs, one can even watch the Lions lose while they’re at it.
But the true fun of the Great Alaska Shootout is Alaska. The moose sightings will be plentiful and the cameras always love a moose sitting next to the arena. And at four in the morning after 15 straight hours of hoops watching, apparently I find it amusing too, even though I know it is coming.
Read the in-depth men’s basketball preview for this team
