A sports conundrum

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I'm a huge sports fan. And I follow the rules of being a sports fan. You can cheer for two teams in a professional league, provided they are in different conferences, and provided you have a clear preference on who wins should they ever meet. Also, you can cheer for a good number of teams in college sports, provided you have a good reason to cheer for that team, and provided you can slot them in order of preference should they ever meet, again so there's always a clear team you are rooting for.

But, tonight, I'm faced with a situation unlike any I have ever faced before in my years of being a sports nut. There's a game tonight that impacts two of the college teams I cheer for. The Buckeyes of Ohio State, and the Cleveland State Vikings.

The Buckeyes are clearly on "the bubble" for entry to the NCAA Tournament. They could be in, they could be out. CBS says they're in. ESPN says they're in with a win over MSU. SI says they're in with a win and not too many upsets of mid-major locks in their tournament.

Cleveland State plays Butler tonight for the Horizon League Championship. If they win, they are in the tournament. And Butler will take an at-large bid assuredly. If they lose, Butler gets the Horizon league's auto-invite, and there's one more at-large big available for the Buckeyes to chase.

So, how do we cheer here? The laws of sports fandom don't seem to apply. I think I'll have to rely on logic.

And I think I've come to a conclusion.

I'm going to cheer for a CSU victory tonight. Ohio State can get in, even with Butler taking up an at-large bid. Ohio State might get shut out, even if Butler doesn't take up at an large bid. So, I'll cheer for the sure thing: a victory tonight and at least one of CSU/OSU will be in the Big Dance. A loss tonight, and it's possible neither will make it.

So, go Vikings (and Go Buckeyes this weekend)