The Last Hurrah: One More Look at the Madness and My Trip to NYC

We’re finally here, folks: the Final Four. After two basketball-filled weekends of March Madness, we’ve whittled the field down to four teams. Before March closes, let’s take one final look at the madness.

It’s safe to say that this has been a mad, mad March. Title contenders like Virginia, Arizona, Michigan State, Cincinnati, and Xavier were all taken down before the first weekend was up, busting millions of brackets in the process (including mine). The real cherry on top is the appearance of 11-seed Loyola Chicago in the Final Four. In the history of the tournament, only three other 11-seeds have ever gotten this far. I had the Ramblers in the Sweet 16, but not even I could have seen them in the semifinals!

The Final Four of Villanova, Kansas, Michigan, and Loyola is a rather bizarre one. Of over 17 million brackets on ESPN, only 550 of them had the correct Final Four (0.003%).

I was not one of these 550 lucky entrants, but that doesn’t mean I’m not looking forward to Saturday night. Both Final four games will be airing on TBS. Michigan vs. Loyola Chicago starts at 6:09, and Villanova vs. Kansas will follow at 8:49. The winners of each game will meet on Monday, April 2nd at 9:20 PM on TBS to play in the 2018 NCAA Championship game. No seed lower than 8 has won the title, so I’ll be rooting for Loyola to make history!

As exciting as the Final Four is, I can tell you that it won’t be the highlight of my week. That would have to be my trip to New York City last Tuesday! As I mentioned in my previous post, I bought tickets to attend the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden to watch the Penn State basketball game. Penn State went on a run in the NIT, defeating Temple, Notre Dame, and Marquette en route to a trip to the NIT semifinals for the first time since 2009. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the opportunity again to watch Penn State basketball live in New York while I’m a student here, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity!

The buses left on Tuesday at noon, and we arrived in New York around 5. I had never been to New York before, and I was quite impressed with the size of the city. But what really got me is Madison Square Garden, a true spectacle of a sporting arena. I’d seen multiple games played in MSG on TV, but never had I seen one live before! It was incredible. Our seats were pretty good too; I was in the third row behind the hoop!

 

The great part about getting there before 7 is that we got the opportunity to watch both NIT semifinal games. Utah and Western Kentucky tipped off at 7, and they played a great game that resulted in Utah winning 69-64. At 9:30, the main event started, as Penn State took the floor against Mississippi State. And it wasn’t even close. Penn State won 75-60 in a great game that included a 24-0 run in the second quarter. And I got to see it live! I think a big reason for the dominant performance was that this was basically a home game. 90% of the crowd must have been rooting for Penn State. Every time someone initiated a “We Are” chant, the responding “Penn State!” could be heard throughout the entire arena.

Now, Penn State plays Thursday night, tonight, against Utah in the NIT championship. I would have gone to this game too, but I couldn’t miss my classes again. At the time I’m writing this, I don’t know how the game ends up, but by Friday morning when you’re reading this, we’ll find out!

One more to go and we’re NIT champs for the first time since 2009. We Are!