At The University of Alabama, we may be a bit spoiled with winning, especially when it comes to football. You can’t even get to the stadium without stepping across the Walk of Champions or hearing the national championship flags flapping in the wind. I’ve seen a number of students around campus sporting “Back to Back” national championship gear, and boasting our 15th (or some may say, technically 14th, ahem, 1941) championship in any way possible.
Unfortunately for football fans, the season is not yet here. ESPN is overflowing with March Madness, as this is the peak of basketball season. Over the next few weeks, college basketball fans will be brushing up on bracketology to see which team will ultimately have the highly anticipated honor of cutting down the nets.
As a North Carolina native, March Madness is pretty much a solid equivalent to our football season in the deep South. Some even believe the Tobacco Road rivalry between UNC and Duke to be greater than ours with that cow college across the state. I think we all know that isn’t true, but it certainly comes close. I don’t think I could stand to have our campus eight miles away from Auburn anyway.
After a disappointing loss in the SEC Tournament to Florida this weekend, the Crimson Tide didn’t receive a call to the NCAA tournament this year, yet it was chosen to participate in the NIT.
Our team doesn’t deserve any less support because they came up short of an NCAA bid. I was at the game on March 9, against Georgia and saw Trevor Releford hit the buzzer-beater to seal the regular season with a win. The crowd’s reaction was explosive. Even if you watched it at home, didn’t that make you jump out of your seat?
Not a huge basketball fan? Just try it out for tonight’s game. The enthusiasm is contagious, and I can guarantee you’ll be back for more in Coleman Coliseum this fall. It may not be the same atmosphere as Cameron Indoor Stadium, or even Bryant-Denny, but it’s an amazing experience, especially in postseason. Yes it’s true, we would all rather fill out an NCAA bracket and have Alabama in there somewhere, but it’s clearly not the case this year.
Perhaps next year, Anthony Grant and the Crimson Tide will lace up their dancing shoes. For now, we must support our team in the NIT because it’s the only way they’ll be able to get better. We’ve got to show them we have the confidence that they’ll succeed.
Former North Carolina State head basketball coach Jim Valvano used to devote an entire practice to cutting down the nets in preparation for tournament wins. He believed in the team and its potential for greatness. Do you think Nick Saban devotes a practice to hoisting crystal footballs and proper Gatorade bath etiquette? There is so much love for our football program here in Tuscaloosa, but it’s time to start showing it for the basketball team when they reach the postseason as well.
So grab your shaker and put off your midterm paper for another hour or two – we all know you’d rather procrastinate. Support the Tide tonight, and maybe next year it will be our turn to have “One Shining Moment.”
Elizabeth Lowder is the assistant community manager of The Crimson White.
