This is the Moment

If you’ve been a fan of mid-major college basketball, sit back, take a satisfyingly deep breath and live it up when the AP releases its next Top 25.   You will probably be able hear mid-major basketball confidently stating:  “It’s our time – we have arrived.”

In 1999, mid-major basketball started to stand up and claim relevance when Gonzaga made its famous Elite Eight run – knocking off Minnesota, Stanford, and Florida before nearly eliminating eventual champion, UConn.  But, for some reason, this one run transformed what had been merely an innocent crush on “Cinderella” into something a whole lot more complicated.  The cynics were born.  “First-round upsets are cute, but we want the best teams in the second weekend.” And, at the time, this was relatively fair and legitimate.

In 2004, mid-major basketball puffed out its chest a little bit when George Mason made their run to the Final Four, yet the cynics got louder.  “Mason caught lightning in a bottle; Sparty wasn’t fully prepared; UNC was clearly flawed; UConn choked; Hofstra should have made it over them anyway.” And, at the time, they were right – to a certain extent.

In 2010, mid-major basketball started to stand up and claim legitimacy when Butler reached the title game against Duke (falling literally inches short of cutting down the nets), yet the cynics got bolder.  “It was a down year all-around; they lucked out with a couple under-recruited local kids that turned into pros; Butler got to play in their home town in the Final Four.” And, at the time, their logic was not entirely flawed.

In 2011, mid-major basketball felt vindicated when a Butler-VCU National Semifinal resulted in Butler becoming only the second team since the turn of the century to reach back-to-back national title games, yet the cynics intensified.  “The big boys are still adjusting to the one-and-done rule; besides, that was the worst Championship Game ever; who wants to see a team shoot 18% from the floor in what is supposed to be the coronation of a champion?” And, at the time, these sentiments weren’t entirely absurd.

Well, come Monday – March 4, 2013 – mid-major basketball will not have to stand up and say anything because the Associated Press will say it for them.  When the next AP poll comes out the team that started it all – Gonzaga – will bestowed the nation’s #1 ranking, and there will be nothing left for the cynics to say.  It doesn’t matter whether or not the ‘Zags actually are the best team in the country or whether or not they are even granted a #1-seed by the Selection Committee in two weeks. What matters is that the “national experts” believe that the WCC team from Spokane, Washington, is deserving of being called the “Best Team in the Country.”

Personally, I generally give next to no credence to rankings.  In fact, I try to avoid them as best as I can.  However, this will be the second time in my life where I actually feel elation about the AP Top 25.  And, the first time happens to be one of my favorite childhood memories – it was a cold Tuesday night in December when my dad came running down our basement steps with the newspaper in his hand yelling “Guess who’s #1?!?”  I was 9 years old.  Twenty-five years later, and that memory has been brought rushing back to me by a small school over 3,000 miles from Broad Street…