5. Small Schools Can Win
As I mentioned earlier, college basketball is very much unlike college football. In college football, pretty much the same handful of teams contend for a national championship each year, such as, Alabama, LSU, Florida State, Ohio State. It’s just so predictable. However, that is not the case in college basketball. Small schools like No. 6 Villanova, No. 7 Xavier, and No. 23 Butler are currently ranked and very much in play for a national championship. In fact, Butler finished as the National Runner-Up in 2010 and 2011. Any school can be successful at basketball.
This battle between small schools San Diego State and Florida Gulf Coast was one of the better NCAA Tournament games of 2013.
4. Teams Are Free to Go Crazy and Celebrate
In professional sports, it’s all about being serious and acting as if nothing is that big of a deal. But if a team does dance or celebrate in professional sports, it’s viewed as arrogant and showing up the other team. In college basketball, celebrating is seen as what it should be: just a group of teammates rocking out, having a great time, and being happy playing the game they love. Nobody in college basketball is ever criticized for letting loose and having fun.
3. The Teams and Players Are Super Passionate
What do you think when you hear the words “college basketball”? What comes to my mind is the passion, the love of the game, the floor-slapping, loose-ball diving all-out intensity that every college basketball player displays. It’s beautiful and almost never found in the NBA, but that love and passion flows abundantly in college basketball.
2. The Student Section Has A Major Impact On The Games
What college kid doesn’t like going crazy for their school? I know I do. In football, even the loudest student section has a limited effect on the road team. In basketball, the student section can take over a game. One of the reasons why the student section has a much bigger impact in basketball is because the students are way closer to the action. At schools like Duke, the student section starts in the first few rows, which leaves the students so close, they can touch the back of an opposing player who is inbounding the basketball. Not to mention the fatheads and other distracting pictures and signs people throw in the air when the road team is at the free throw line. There’s no better satisfaction as a student section than knowing you’ve frustrated an opposing player. In college basketball, there are many opportunities to feel this satisfaction.
1. March Madness
Everyone’s favorite sports playoff to watch, without a doubt, is the NCAA College Basketball Tournament, or as it’s more commonly known: March Madness. It’s a field of the best 68 teams in the country, every conference champion automatically receives a spot, which leaves open the opportunity for some crazy upsets, great basketball, and a whole lot of fun. Plus, who doesn’t love filling out a bracket and acting like you know exactly what’s going to happen when really nobody can accurately predict what’s going to happen.
Long live college basketball.
