March: the most maddening month of the year

March: the most maddening month of the year

Henry Howell, Sports Editor

IMG_6821For all you sports fanatics out there, the highlight of March is not welcoming spring, focusing on mid-semester exams, or even letting loose over spring break. No. March is a time of stress, elation, sorrow and can be marvelously maddening that there’s only word that could possibly describe this month: madness.

Allow me to enlighten all those who are not as involved in the college sporting world as us “sports nerds.” The term March Madness has been permanently attached to the NCAA Division 1 basketball championship, which occurs in the second half of March. The bracket is selected the Sunday before the tournament begins, with 16 teams being selected from each of the four regions: East, West, South, and Midwest. The teams are selected based on best overall record, along with automatic entry of all conference-tournament winners. From then on, it’s survival of fittest and from the first “round of 64,” it is win or go home for these teams, as they put their bodies and season on the line every minute of every game.

The Tournament, due to its global popularity, has accumulated several monikers: “March Madness,” “The Big Dance,” “The Tourney,” ”‘Bracketology,” etc. But every year, without fail, the underdogs–those ‘Cinderella Teams’–capture nationwide audiences as they make their run through the bracket, beating higher ranked teams on their runs at the title.

This 2016 year lived up and maybe even exceeded expectations of excitement. As Villanova has officially cut the nets down, it’s time to look back at all the heartbreaks, comebacks, dunks, dribbles, and more. From the first-game upsets to possibly one of the most thrilling finishes in March Madness history, the games provided ‘bracket-busters’, thrilling victories, and nail-biting finishes. Here are just a few of the most notable stories:

No. 15 Middle Tennessee State upsets No. 2 Michigan State 90-81

There is no doubt that this will go down as one of the biggest first-round upsets in tournament history, as Michigan State was one of the most favorited teams in this year’s bracket. In addition to having a future NBA senior in Denzel Valentine, they were led by all-star coach Tom Izzo. In addition to all that, this number 2 seed had shocked everyone last year as they made it to the Final Four from the 7 seed position, only to lose to future champions Duke. On the other side of the court was no. 15 seeded Middle Tennessee State in their first tournament berth and cast off as a “one-and-done” team this tournament. Having just half the population of Michigan State, this team truly showed why Cinderella stories have enraptured this nation’s audience for the past 40+ years of the tournament as they outworked their opponents throughout the whole game. Not only were they 18 point underdogs, but Michigan State, according to ESPN’s BPI (Basketball Power Index) had a 96% chance of winning. Thank you, Middle Tennessee State, for once again proving that the numbers never take into account how far heart can take you in sports.

No. 11 Northern Iowa Panthers: From Winners to Whiners

The Northern Iowa Panthers, having already beat number one ranked North Carolina earlier in the year, had been far from reaching their potential as they meet Evansville in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship. Tied at 54 in the final seconds of the game, it looked as if the two teams were going to overtime. But one UNI senior thought otherwise. Wes Washpun pulls up for a jumper just inside the three-point  arc. He, and everyone inside the stadium, watch as the ball soars towards the basket, hits the back of the rim, and after hanging in the air for what seems like ages, lightly kisses the backboard and falls through the net perfectly at the buzzer. The crowd and players storm the court: they’re going to the NCAA tournament.

Fast forward to the first round of the March Madness tournament. 2.7 seconds remain in Northern Iowa’s matchup against their first opponent, No. 6 Texas Longhorns, and after relinquishing a large first half lead, the game was once again tied up, this time at 72 apiece. After Texas ties the ballgame up with a floater, UNI elects not to take a timeout and instead hand the ball to senior Paul Jesperson. As he nears half court, he lets the ball fly. Surely the odds are too stacked against him: two games in a row, two buzzer beaters in a row. The ball goes in and sends all statistics, rankings, or odds out the door. Seems crazy, but this is March MADNESS we’re talking about.

But their madness was far from over. Fast forward yet again to their second round matchup against the Texas A&M Aggies. Despite being yet another underdog, UNI went up to an early lead and were able to hold it for nearly the entire game. With a 12 point lead and just 40 seconds remaining in the game, UNI had about a 99.99% chance of winning. But the Aggies pressure defense, and the craziness of March said otherwise. As they stole the ball off the inbound, UNI’s lead cut down to 10 with 35 seconds to play. Another wayward inbound led yet another TAMU basket and all of a sudden the Panthers’ lead was 8 points and the Aggies still had 25 seconds to make up that deficit. What happened next was one of the biggest collapses in tournament history. After getting trapped in the corner, Paul Jespersen attempts at throwing the ball off the other team, but instead throws it straight to the other team leading to a quick two points that took no more than five seconds. Next, UNI throws the ball out of bounds of their own inbound play, giving the ball back to the Aggies, leading to a 3-pointer and only a 3 point lead. Despite a quick basket for the Panthers pushing the lead back to 5, TAMU went straight down for a layup and the foul, cutting the lead down to two points and 8 seconds to play. The Texas A&M needed one more stop to complete their awe-inspiring comeback and in a complete embodiment of the madness of March they trapped the point guard Wes Washpun in the corner, forcing him to turn the ball over for a fourth straight time in the last thirty seconds and all of a sudden the game was tied. There is no happy ending to this UNI game, as they would end up losing in overtime. The players were stunned. The entire world was stunned. But March Madness never fails to live up to its name and the University of Northern Iowa Panthers can certainly attest to that. After the game, NBA star Lebron James went on record saying, “I would quit basketball. If I was on Northern Iowa, I would quit. When you’re up eight with 20-plus seconds, you have five or ten seconds, I would quit.” Now obviously he was joking, but what happened that night was something no one hopes to face in life, but for the American audience, it made the tournament that much more intense.

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A Historic Final to End a Historic Tournament: Villanova triumphs over North Carolina 77-74

Two powerhouse teams meeting in the final is bound to make for an exciting final, and that is exactly what happened. After Villanova and North Carolina rolled in their Final Four matchups, winning by 44 and 17 respectively, the world knew the final would be a tight one, and the teams did not disappoint. The finish to the final game of March Madness was one to remember, as there were two ‘clutch’ three pointers in the closing seconds, including the most acrobatic tying basket from North Carolina and yet another buzzer beater from Villanova to win the game. Watching those final seconds can give anybody chills at the beauty of sports.

Sports have the incomparable capability of producing awe-inspiring moments year after year, and the NCAA’s March Madness certainly proves that. Whether you’re cheering for your favorite college, biting your nails over your bracket, or just watching for the love of the game, the tournament brings us one of the country’s greatest sporting events. Next year’s tournament will bring many more surprises to show us once again why we all love the greatness of sports.