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| From Grant Halverson (NCAA Photos via Getty Images) |
Wow.
One day has passed, and I still can't believe that it happened.
As of right now, I'm still trying to keep my head in check from all of the madness that transpired last night.
Allow me to fill you in on what happened more than 24 hours ago.
The University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC), ranked #16 in the South region of the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament and 63rd overall out of the 64 participating teams, defeated the number 1 overall seeded team the University of Virginia to move on to the next round of the competition. Before this result, no team, I repeat, NO TEAM has ever defeated a number 1 seeded team as a 16 seed. It never happened.
Since the introduction of the 64 team tournament format in 1985, a total of 135 teams came and tried to defeat their vastly superior opponents. Unfortunately for all of them, they were vanquished.
Some came close to pulling it off.
Princeton lost in 1989 against Georgetown by the score of 49-50.
Murray State lost in overtime the next year against Michigan State by the score of 71-75.
And Southern lost in 2013 against Gonzaga by the score of 58-64.
The crowd of people who watched each of those games back then had hope that somehow, some way, their unlikely underdog would do the impossible and break the laws of basketball as they knew it. However, reality quickly set by the beginning of the second half and the number 1 teams restored formality through the sheer weight of their talent, athleticism, and excellent coaching.
It's kind of like one of those action movies where the good guy clobbered all of the obstacles placed before him and finally meets the final boss for his final battle. The only difference between that and these games are the villains pulling something out of their ass to win at the last minute and walking away unscathed. In the end, we'd drown out cries of sadness and sympathy for the valiant competitors who tried to slay the dragon and root them on to try again next year. This kind of thing recycles itself year after year after year after year.....
These expected victories by the 1 seeded team has gone on for so long that us fans have come accept the fact in which the possibility of a 16-seeded team winning in the first round may never happen. They could try all they want, but the story will play itself out just like all that have come before. The script of that action movie will never be rewritten.
That is how it has been..................until last night.
Less than a couple of hours before the UMBC vs UVA game ended, the #16 Texas Southern vs #1 Xavier game was finishing up. The Musketeers cruised throughout the second half in halting the Tigers' offense, eventually winning it 102-83. However, at the beginning of the game, they fell victim to a tremendous [10-something]-0 run conducted by the Tigers which spanned for nearly 3 minutes. During that run, I was fucking psyched. As a student of TSU, I held a sliver of hope for my team to defy the odds and break the seemingly unbeatable streak. But alas, it was not to be, for they were expectedly handled by the much bigger and better Xavier team.
As the clock winded down to triple zeroes, I checked my phone to see the current scores of all the games that were going on at the same time. I was trying to figure out which game I wanted to see next. I scrolled down and examined the screen...
*Sees #3 Michigan State vs #14 Bucknell*
"Meh. The Spartans are taking care of the Bison, so I won't watch that."
*Sees #11 Syracuse vs #6 TCU*
"It's happening on CBS but I don't feel like watching that right now. I'll catch up to it later since I don't need to look for a streaming site to see it."
*Sees #16 UMBC vs #1 Virginia*
"Hmm. They're both tied 21-21 at halftime. Maybe this will be the night. What the hell! I'll try this one out."
So trying it out I did. I clicked on a link from an illegal streaming site and I watched everything unravel live, and it was glorious.
Led by Jairus Lyles (Human Torch), who scored 28 points, and K.J. Maura, a cataclysmic ball of energy, the UMBC Chesapeake Bay Retrievers shocked the basketball world in dispatching the heavily-favored Cavaliers with the final score being 74-54.
Prior to this, the Cavaliers lost only 2 other games this season. Those came at the hands of West Virginia (61-68 on 12-5-2017) and Virginia Tech (60-61 in OT on 2-10-2018). Other than that, they were perfect throughout. They ended up winning their conference tournament, beating the likes of Clemson, Louisville, and the defending national champion in North Carolina. How did this come to be!?
Well, the Retrievers caught on fire in the second half, shooting 7/12 from beyond the arc and scoring a total of 53(!) points against a Virginia team who hadn't allowed anyone in the season to score at or over 70 in a game. UMBC was playing their best game ever, while Virginia was playing their worst. So many things had to go right for the underdog to triumph and it did.
The stamina, the shooting, the defense, the coaching. Everything went to the Retrievers' favor.
Virginia looked shocked late into the game as they couldn't believe they were being blown out in the first round to a team who previously lost to Albany 83-39 in a conference game just 2 months ago!
I couldn't believe it too! I was freaking out in front of my family who was wondering how a demon could possess someone with likes of me late at night. I was screaming "This can't be happening!" every minute. I did this while also keeping in mind all of the false hope I had from the TSU game just a while ago. I knew what this story was all about, so I kept expecting for Virginia to come back and steal this game away at the last minute.
5 minutes pass....it didn't happen.
5 minutes pass again....it didn't happen yet.
5 minutes pass again....they're getting manhandled this time.
When the game had 2 minutes left, I finally let out all of my pent-up emotions. The basketball gods have finally smiled down at the #16 seed. And when the final buzzer sounded, the cries of thousands of people with utterly busted brackets could be heard a mile away from my house. Shock had transcended across many walks of life to take notice of this surprising result.
You can say whatever you want about this massive achievement. You can say how this result was a long time coming in whatever analysis you did. You can mount up and present to me many excuses in figuring out why this happened the way it did. You can even say that we're in an alternate timeline where the game hadn't happened yet and we're just dreaming our desired result. Hell, I probably might've believed you if we were living in that scenario.
But we're living in this timeline; and in it, UMBC defeated Virginia soundly and justly.
This may never happen again, I believe. So many things have to go right again, just like this game did, for another 16-seeded team to pull off another magical upset. It is because of this that I'll never forget. Years may come and pass, but I'll keep in mind the emotions I unleashed at the sounding of the final buzzer and the confirmation of the UMBC players about what they just did on that night.
UMBC's next game in the tournament is on the 18th of March, as they face #9 Kansas State, who was just as shocked as the rest of the country after their opponents pulled off the upset to end all upsets.
Who knows what's going to happen to the Retrievers in the second round, but one thing is for sure. They are forever enshrined in the halls of March Madness lore.
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| From Jared C. Tilton (NCAA Photos via Getty Images) |
UMBC......
U
Must
Be
Cinderella
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