THE TAMPA SPECIAL

Clemson, Vandy, Drake, and UConn crucified in West Florida

After a relatively quiet first day (nay a near Britney-sized disaster by the Durham Devils) in the NCAA Tournament, day two on Good Friday more than made up for me falling asleep during Wisconsin/CSU Fullerton by delivering five games that went undecided until the final seconds of play.

Something has to be in the water in Tampa that somehow gives those not expected to come out victorious to…well, come out victorious. Proof: the Devil Rays (now known simply as the Rays after an apparent religious epiphany) won 66 games last year. That’s 66 upsets. Oh, and also, all higher seeds playing in the Tampa pod fell on Friday, a feat that had never happened before in the history of college ball.

San Diego becomes the third double-seeded
team to send the Huskies home in the past three years.

The San Diego Toreros, from a small 4,000-student Catholic school overlooking the ocean, provided possibly the deadliest shocker thus far by stunning Calhoun’s Huskies of Connecticut with a last second De'Jon Jackson jumper from the wing with less than 2 seconds left in bonus basketball, proving that while UC San Diego may have the brains and San Diego State may have the boobs, USD has the ballers.

Need more drama than that? Hours before, on the very same hardwood floor, Ty Rogers nailed a game-winning shot from a distant 25 feet as time expired in the extra period to sink the dreams of #5 Drake and send his Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (?) to the second round. Adding to the Tampa turmoil, ‘Nova sent a confident Clemson team packing, while #13 Siena made a mockery of Vanderbilt’s four-seed by topping the Commodores, 83-62.

Friday validated and showcased why this tournament is the second-most popular sporting event on the American calendar, as teams filled with players un-recruited from the power conferences, and playing for nothing more than the pride of the name stitched to their chests, find a way to slay history-filled, long-standing giants.

They sent fans and fellow students into violent frenzies watching the games back home in student unions, rec halls, and dorm rooms. They filled the eyes of basketball mothers, who drove to and back from practice during the past decade, with joyous tears. They give younger aspiring athletes a reason to set a goal or chase a dream. They also fucked up brackets in offices nationwide.

Larger-name schools may have the money, the big-name coach, the aggressive scouting practices (Hi, Kelvin), and next April’s first round of the NBA Draft, but once confidence starts flowing through the veins of teams like Davidson and Siena, once these sometimes overlooked, but truly talented, players genuinely believe they deserve to play on the same court as those from legendary programs, then they really can.