When the Tourney Feels Dirty

As Sunday evening approached, I was preparing myself for a pretty butt-clenched evening. My Syracuse Orange sat squarely on the bubble for a berth in this year's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Needless to say, it was rather nerve-racking. Then the bracket leaked, I saw SU was on it, and I went to sleep.

But take a closer look at the bracket, and you can see the SU fan base's collective sigh of relief should be tinged with a hint of distress. The Orange may have avoided a disastrous season by sneaking into the tournament, but doing so may have prevented some of the true Cinderella magic that March Madness is all about. This year's rendition still features potential giant killers, but it will definitely be missing out without the likes of St. Bonaventure, San Diego State, and especially Monmouth.

It's criminal that the Hawks were snubbed. Forget that they won 27 games. Forget they had the brass stones to play games at UCLA, USC, and Georgetown. Forget that they had a winning
record against teams that made the tournament. They should have gotten in based on their bench celebrations alone. How are we going to get through this season's "One Shining Moment" video without their antics? Instead we get to watch DaJuan Coleman looking really depressed after he fouls out in the first half.

One might confuse his face for a basketball. They're equally round

Sure, SU's celebration when they found out they were in was pretty fun too. And for a team that's normally a goliath, this roster has more of a plucky upstart characteristic to it. That doesn't change the fact that several teams were just as deserving--if not more deserving--of a ticket to the dance. Even coach Jim Boeheim admitted he thought there was only about a one-in-ten chance his team would get in. That makes this all feel a little dirty to me.

I won't deny there are plenty of reasons for good old-fashioned excitement. We're taking on Dayton in our opening game, and it will be a chance to avenge the frustrating upset they handed us two years ago. After last year's self-imposed ban, it's good to get another taste of the tournament, even if it's just a small bite. And as his supporting cast has failed him, senior Michael Gbinije has been so fantastic this season that he deserves one more crack in March. But how do you balance your love for the laundry when you rationally understand that the group of players wearing the jerseys probably don't deserve it?

It hasn't been 24 hours, and I can already tell it's going to be one of the toughest quandaries I've ever had as a fan. It will result in a bittersweet tournament, where I'm half-heartedly in it through the entire short-lived run. I'll still go out, drink heavily, and cheer the Orange on. But that CBS March Madness theme won't bring me quite the same cheer as usual.