Saturday is fast approaching and with it, the NCAA Tournament's Final Four. This is one of my favorite sporting events of the year, and I'll be glued to the television from 6pm on. But this year's games will be different than any other, for one major reason: I have no one to root against.
I think every college basketball fan develops new loyalties and disdain toward certain teams as March Madness progresses. Sure we all root for our faves, but when they're eliminated, we adopt other teams to cheer for...or cheer against. The Cinderella teams almost always develop a loyal following, as it's practically obligatory to get behind the little guy as he goes off to battle the big boys of the power conferences. We may even start rooting for certain teams because we've come to like one of their players, their style of play, or even their coach.
But as much as we may not want to admit it, there is always that one team that we love to hate as they mow down their foes in each round of the tournament. You know what I'm referring to. You've seen these teams before, and you've hated them every bit as much as I have. They're the teams with the cocky, arrogant attitudes who believe they're entitled to number one seeds and a ticket to the Final Four. Their rosters are laden with punks who talk trash and start trouble out on the court. Even their coach rubs you the wrong way with his mannerisms and tone of speech.
But you know what the best scenario is? The ideal situation occurs when the team that you've adopted as "your team" the rest of the way faces off with the team you've come to despise. Nothing incites more passion, energy, and enthusiasm in a college basketball fan, and I have lived for those moments, such as when George Mason defeated UConn in their regional final in 2006. I can still remember jumping up and down in my living room when the buzzer sounded after that 86-84 overtime thriller.
This year, however, is different. When you look at the Final Four, you don't see any brutes, ogres, or bullies. No trash-talking troublemakers, no odious characters, no supercilious snobs with a sense of entitlement. Don't even look for it. It's not there.
Instead, what you have are four teams that were very unlikely to make it this far. All of the number one seeds are gone, only the third time that has ever happened in the tournament's history. All of the number two seeds are gone as well; that is a first.
The highest seed left is the number three Huskies from the University of Connecticut. But even they are an unlikely story. They finished ninth in the Big East during the regular season, and had to win five games in five days in order to win the Big East tournament, something that had never been done before. But this young team, loaded with freshmen and led by an unassuming star guard named Kemba Walker, somehow got it done. How can you not be happy for them?
The next highest seed remaining is the Kentucky Wildcats. Now I know what you're thinking. People have every reason to hate Kentucky. They're the winningest program in college basketball history. They've been too good for too long, and their coach is a weasel who already had two Final Four banners taken back by the NCAA due to rules violations. Like a rat leaving a sinking ship, he fled UMass and Memphis just in time, right before the you-know-what hit the fan. I get that.
But again, this Wildcat team is different. This is not the Kentucky team that won the National Championship in 1998. Like UConn, they too are quite young. Kentucky starts three freshmen, including Brandon Knight, their fearless leader who has hit two buzzer-beaters in this tourney to help his team advance. Their own coach questioned their mental toughness earlier in the season, and they have worked extremely hard to turn that around and get to where they are now. Their senior center, Josh Harrellson, is a player who the previous coach gave up on. He was grossly overweight and had a sloppy work ethic, but even he cleaned up his act. After a vigorous conditioning program initiated by Coach Calipari, he got himself into shape, had a solid season, and has been a beast throughout this tournament.
As for the other two teams, how do you root against a number eight seed (Butler) or a number eleven seed (Virginia Commonwealth)? They're both classic Cinderellas, and the lowest seeds to ever face off in a national semi-final. After losing their star player from last year's team, Gordon Hayward, it was widely believed that this year's Butler team would be unable to muster another tournament run. But they've proven everyone wrong, with gritty play and solid leadership from Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack. And come on, how can anyone not root for Brad Stevens? The 34 year-old head coach is soft-spoken, humble, and looks like a choir boy sitting on the sidelines.
Coach Shaka Smart of VCU is another guy you have to get behind. CBS showed his pre-game speech before his players went to war with Kansas, and it made me want to go out there and lock horns with the Jayhawks. He's charismatic, inspiring, and like Brad Stevens, a young, likable guy. Many so-called experts deemed the Rams unworthy of a spot in the tournament, but they have proven the critics wrong by beating one team after another from the power conferences. First it was the Pac-10, then the Big East, followed by the Big Ten, ACC, and the Big 12. The little engine that could from the Colonial Athletic Association has shocked the world, and as a college basketball fan, you can't help but love it.
So now, we have a major dilemma. Who do we cheer for? Who do we hope brings home the National Championship Trophy in this year chock full of feel-good stories? Vegas has Kentucky tabbed as the favorite, but as I said earlier, they are not the type of favorite that I can ever root against. What then do we do?
My answer is this: we should just sit back and enjoy the games. They are likely to be hard fought and competitive, and I for one can't wait to see Brandon Knight and Kemba Walker go head-to-head. I predict that the winner of that game will be the guy who has the ball in his hands when that buzzer is about to sound. Both Walker and Knight have proven time and again that they have ice water in their veins, and I wait with great anticipation to see which one is going to hit the last-second, game-winning shot that sends his team to Monday night's championship game.
In this time of economic crisis and widespread hardship, I think we can also draw inspiration from these teams. Lessons learned from sports can often be applied to life, and there are plenty of them to go around in this year's Final Four. Those who have been told they don't belong can look at VCU's run and use that as motivation. Young people who may have been told they don't have enough experience can use Kentucky and Connecticut as role models. If you're an underdog in the game of life, whether looking for a job or trying to overcome a difficult situation, you can draw inspiration from any of these four teams. Josh Harrellson is an example of an incredible comeback, while his coach's situation shows us that life does grant second (and third) chances.
So let's make the most of this year's Final Four by enjoying the games, allowing the teams to entertain us, and embracing their amazing individual stories. I can live with any one of them being crowned the champion on Monday night, and I hope that you can too.
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