March Madness will be here soon, but upsets and buzzer-beaters are already taking place in college basketball. On Saturday, Wake Forest hosted number 8-ranked Duke in front of a sold-out crowd (their first since 2017 and almost 15,000 fans!), with the team pulling off an 83-79 upset. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Wake fans excitedly stormed the court, sprinting to celebrate the victory. This is always a wild scene, but one that is memorable and special for college students to experience. Unfortunately, during all of the…
Category Archives: College Basketball
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Stuck in the Crowd
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The Impact of Togetherness
Continue ReadingBy Matt Osborne, Staff Writer The best rivalry in college basketball tips off again this Saturday evening, as the Duke Blue Devils make the short trek to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in a battle of top-ten teams. Duke head coach, Jon Scheyer was able to sweep his Tobacco Road rivals last season in his first campaign as the Blue Devils’ head coach, but he knows he’ll be facing a much tougher challenge in this year’s UNC squad. The Tar Heels enter the contest ranked No. 3 in the…
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When the Going Gets Tough
Continue ReadingBy Matt Osborne, Staff Writer Like many fans of college sports, I’ve been disappointed to see how much of an impact the transfer portal is having on the sports landscape. The increasing number of players entering the portal has made it difficult for fans to keep up with all of the roster changes from one season to the next. As such, some fans find it challenging to make attachments with many of the players on their favorite team. Michigan State basketball coach, Tom Izzo, expressed his concerns about the growth of…
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2023 BEST of UNPACK this…The Surprising Final Four
Continue ReadingEvery year, when the men’s NCAA Tournament brackets are constructed, teams are ranked and seeded based on their resumes. As we fill out our brackets and listen to the analysts tell us who they think will win each game and make it through each round, the majority of the teams picked to make it to the Final Four are top seeds. Over the years, we have seen plenty of surprise teams pull upsets and go on a special run to the final weekend of the college basketball season. Teams like…
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“Family Over Everything”
Continue ReadingBy Matt Osborne, Staff Writer Bronny James, the 19-year-old son of NBA superstar LeBron James, has finally been cleared by doctors to play basketball at USC after suffering a cardiac arrest in July. A family representative stated that Bronny (currently, a freshman) would begin practicing with his teammates next week and likely return to games shortly afterward. Naturally, LeBron is very excited about the prospect of watching his son play his first collegiate game and has acknowledged he’d be willing to miss his own game with the Los Angeles Lakers to be at his son’s debut. James…
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Living With a Sense of Urgency
Continue ReadingBy Staff Writer, Matt Osborne Many people in the world of sports have been taken aback by the news of Bronny James, the eldest son of NBA star LeBron James and an incoming freshman on USC’s basketball team, suffering cardiac arrest during practice on Monday. Though it was undoubtedly a scary and stressful situation, James was able to receive immediate life-saving medical attention. By the time his family released a statement informing the general public of what had transpired, James was already out of the ICU and in stable condition. Remarkably,…
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Greatness
Continue ReadingThe story of this year’s March Madness mainly centered around the countless upsets and surprise teams that made deep runs. Before the tournament began, many people were discussing the state of college basketball and its parity and how there weren’t any truly great teams. It felt like anyone could win. At the same time, as we picked teams in our bracket, we were still putting our hopes in certain teams to deliver for us. Some analysts tried to convince us that number 1-seeded Purdue was great considering their regular season, but then…
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No Fear
Continue ReadingI have thoroughly enjoyed this year’s men’s NCAA Tournament. On Saturday night, we got to watch another thrilling moment as San Diego State’s Lamont Butler knocked down a game-winner at the buzzer to send the Aztecs to the National Championship game. Many people were pulling for FAU as they controlled much of the game, but San Diego State kept hanging on. In the closing seconds, they were down by one with a chance to win the game on the final play and they took full advantage. Once Butler received the ball…
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The Surprising Final Four
Continue ReadingEvery year, when the men’s NCAA Tournament brackets are constructed, teams are ranked and seeded based on their resumes. As we fill out our brackets and listen to the analysts tell us who they think will win each game and make it through each round, the majority of the teams picked to make it to the Final Four are top seeds. Over the years, we have seen plenty of surprise teams pull upsets and go on a special run to the final weekend of the college basketball season. Teams like…
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Seeing the Bigger Picture
Continue ReadingBy Staff Writer, Matt Osborne Following Monday night’s 86-75 victory over Maryland, the South Carolina Gamecocks are just two wins away from making history in the women’s NCAA Tournament. The Gamecocks have already won two national championships under current head coach, Dawn Staley, but they haven’t yet joined the ranks of legendary teams that have won a title while going undefeated through the season. South Carolina enters the women’s Final Four as the clear favorite to cut down the nets, with star players Aliyah Boston and Zia Cooke leading a…
