The Big Dance; The Glory of March Madness

*Originally printed in The Dickinsonian Issue Feb. 25 Issue
It’s March 5, 2006, and the madness has reached its unmatchable peak. Sweat drips down the wide grinning faces of the George Mason men’s basketball squad as they realize the glorious giant-killing that they have just accomplished. A no-name basketball team from the Colonial Athletic Association just conquered two storied programs, North Carolina and UConn, back-to-back in the NCAA tournament and Fairfax, Va. is going nuts.

The glory of college basketball can’t be better displayed than in that picture. In that one shining moment of exhausted glory, GMU can scream to the world that they’re heading to the Final Four.
This story has been written out almost as much as the USA “Miracle on Ice” or the Tiger Woods affair, but it doesn’t change the message the GMU squad illustrated so clearly about their sport in that moment of triumph: college basketball is an amazing sport, and March Madness is the most exciting stint of time that any sport could ever wish for.

Unlike the NBA, with its repetitive match-ups and manipulative star trading, college basketball relishes in the unexpected. It isn’t a seven game matchup pinning an over-paid squad against a mediocre team with “upside.” College basketball bathes in the waters of not knowing who is going to upset a powerhouse, what star is going to lead their team to national spotlights and which team is going to dance. Dance all night long.

Of course, there will always be the consistent programs, the ones with five-star recruiting and comb-over coaches. Let’s put it this way: Coach K, Roy Williams and Jim Calhoun aren’t going anywhere, America. But it is within this consistency, in these giant figures of championship material, that March Madness finds its motivation. The tournament gets its true heart, its real character of madness from the power of the “what if.”

Maybe, just maybe, a sixteen seed will finally knock off a number one seed. You watch the game in hopes of being one of the many that can recall when a 12-seed no-name conquered an ACC powerhouse, and the great thing about it is that the upset is always a possibility.

Teams stacked with McDonald’s All Americans will dominate the regular season in hope of a #1 seed path to a championship, but there will always be squads waiting for that special upset. The squads in hiding have the hustle players, the players that have done everything in their ability to get their team to its position, itching to play against flashy standouts and NBA-bound one-and-dones.

The Big Dance finds its marvelous nature of spontaneous upsets by matching up the best and the worst in a 64-team amalgamation of determination; the latter mouth load echoes the true nature of this mad, mad tournament.

Of course, March Madness doesn’t have the perfect shots, the demolishing dunks or the unbeatable plays. The tournament doesn’t have Kobe Bryant or Lebron James dominating the field with their unmatchable talent. But you can’t match the hustle, determination and pure sweat that the college game evokes.

It makes you wonder why any player would want to go straight to the NBA after experiencing the passion of the college game. Of course there’s money and injuries to look after, but without the college game, we lose the true nature of the game of basketball. We lose the last second shots of out-of-breath youngsters, playing their hearts out for one trophy. We lose the anyone-can-win mentality that keeps these unpaid players coming back to no-name schools with no chance to reach the pros.

Although GMU went on to lose in the Final Four, the team is as good a story as ever about the unexpectedness of college basketball. It’s the concrete example of the hustle play that can overcome a squad of stars in any game out of the 64 matchups that the tourney presents. The NCAA tournament thrives in the upset and although GMU is still the prime example, anything can happen this year.

The sports world can’t wait to see which team is going to be the next GMU. Which player is going to be the next Stephen Curry and single-handedly upset a national powerhouse? Eyes will be watching to see that game when Kentucky and John Wall fall to a nine-seed in overtime or the second round matchup that proves to be Villanova’s downfall.
These aren’t predictions people, but upsets happen in March Madness. No one wants to miss the next George Mason, the team that will be dancing all night long.