Jeff Pearlman, a feature writer for The Athletic and well-known sports biographer, recently made an observation about March Madness.
He said, following No. 16-seed University of Maryland-Baltimore County’s win over No. 1-seed Virginia, that a decade or two from now, nobody will remember who won the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, but everyone will remember the Terriers beating the Cavaliers. With tonight’s final — a matchup between Michigan and Villanova — set to tip off at 9:20 p.m., I can say that I agree.
Indeed, UMBC’s victory over Virginia is probably one of the most iconic upsets of this young millenium. But until Saturday, this year’s tournament had a chance to hoist an even bigger underdog to the level of Rudy or the Miracle on Ice. I’m talking, of course, about Loyola-Chicago.
Just compare the odds: UMBC’s to beat Virginia? 20-to-1. Loyola’s odds to win it all when the tournament started? 250-to-1.
It obviously didn’t happen, and now few outside Philadelphia and Ann Arbor will remember this season’s champs. But until their elimination against Michigan on Saturday, the 11-seeded Ramblers gave the nation an unforgettable story to root for that just couldn’t quite reach the level of Hollywood blockbuster. Nevertheless, Loyola gave sports fans and non-sports fans alike an example of what makes these games so wonderful and important.
At this point, I should probably mention I’m not a big basketball fan. On my sports hierarchy, it’s in competition with hockey for the No. 3 spot, just as baseball and football compete for No. 1. So in past years, even as someone who came of age as a huge Florida Gators fan during UF’s title runs in 2006 and 2007, I never cared to watch the games. Not Florida’s, and certainly not any of the others’.
That started changing when I got to college, and I’d say it reached its peak this year. After spending five days in St. Louis for the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament, where I familiarized myself with different teams and positions and possible tournament seedings, I was pumped for March Madness to begin.
When it did, I couldn’t turn the TV off day after day after day. As someone who has never really cared for basketball, I started asking myself why.
The answer I came up with is embodied by Loyola, or even by UMBC. In every single game, there’s an underdog. That goes for any sport. But when March Madness starts, some underdogs — like Loyola and UMBC — are massive. They face those 20-to-1 or 250-to-1 odds that, in some way, we all face. Whether those low odds are to find a new job, buy a new house or get a good grade on a paper about something that — despite your best efforts — you don’t fully understand.
And with a 64-team field, there’s always at least one of those big upsets. The kind of upset that reminds all of us, just briefly, that anything is possible.
That’s why I was rooting for Loyola to win it all, or for UMBC to advance past the round of 32. Neither happened, but regardless, I’ll remember both teams. I may not remember that they made their runs in 2018, or where exactly they ended up in the tournament, but I’ll remember Loyola and UMBC for showing me and the rest of the world that life can be reduced to moments and decisions. And even though sometimes the odds against us are great, they can be rebelled against and overcome.
I’d much rather remember that than the winner of the Michigan-Villanova game.
Ethan Bauer is a sports writer. Follow him on Twitter @ebaueri and contact him at ebauer@alligator.org.
UMBC pulled off the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history when it beat No. 1 Virginia in the opening round.
