They call them trap games. It means you’re about to face a dangerous opponent you might possibly overlook because of the games surrounding that foe on the schedule.
And to be fair, until the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men Mocs shocked the major college basketball universe with Saturday night’s win at Dayton, Tuesday night’s visit from Tennessee Tech was considered anything but a trap game.
Not with the Golden Eagles coming from 14 down with nine minutes to go last season in Cookeville to mock the Mocs. No, until the Dayton Delight, Tuesday’s game was a revenge special, guaranteed to bring out the best in every UTC player who experienced a very long bus ride home from Cookeville.
But then Dayton happened. And Tech found itself buried by 26 at Arkansas on the same night the Mocs grounded the Flyers, which almost certainly did nothing to increase UTC’s attention level for the Golden Eagles.
Or as first-year UTC coach Matt McCall noted, “As a coach, I was concerned.”