Now the college basketball is over and Kentucky won the title there isn’t much to really talk about, besides the upcoming NBA finals, but lets face it NCAAB and the NBA are essentially different sports.
1. McCaffrey:Every teams wants their coach to be passionate about their sport, but Coach McCaffrey of Iowa may have taken it a little too far in the game against Michigan State. The Hawkeyes trailed 28 in the remaining ten minutes of the second half and the coach had seemingly had enough of the poor offense. During a team timeout, he picked up a chair and slammed it as the team sat around the huddle; he paced madly back and forth seemingly giving the boys a pep talk. His pep talk or tantrum, did not work, the Hawkeyes still were trampled 95-61. The lost may have been bad, but fans will remember McCaffrey’s less than adult-like display before they remember the score of this game.
2. Ineligibility Issues: If Fab Melo of Syracuse was in the tournament could the Orange have gone all the way, or if Jamar Samuels of Kansas State was not declared ineligible hours before they played the Orange, could they have beat Syracuse. Now, the tournament is over, and like it or not, the favored Kentucky Wildcats took the title, but 2012 marked the year of ineligibility drama. Syracuse fans will never forget the day before the first NCAA championship game when news broke that Melo did not travel with the team due to academic issues. Kansas State fans got a dose of the NCAA medicine when lead scorer Samuels was declared ineligible before the tournament for reportedly taking money from an outside source. No doubt, the absence of these two big men altered the tournament’s result.
3. Fall of No. 1 teams:Who can forget the day the No. 1 team (Kentucky) and the No. 2 (Ohio State) team fell making the No. 3 team (Syracuse) the best in the land? The most shocking loss of the season however, was when Indiana beat Kentucky. The Indiana Hoosiers were down two points, the game 72-70, Christian Watford went for the buzzer beater, a three, and he drained it and knocked off the No. 1 team. No one could believe the upset or the clutch shot, but Hoosier fans stormed the court creating complete pandemonium, they won 73-72. That would not be the end of No. 1 teams falling to unranked opponents. Syracuse claimed the No. 1 spot after this loss but mid January, Notre Dame beat them in a disappointing loss without center Fab Melo of 67-58.
4. #2 Seeds in the Tournament:How many people’s brackets were busted when Duke and Missouri lost in the first round? Two number two seeds fell to number 15 seeds in the same day for the first time since 2001 when #15 Hampton beat #2 Iowa State. Previously, this has only happened four times in the NCAA tournament, and in 2012 we seen it happen twice in the same day within 120 minutes. Norfolk knocked off Missouri, and Lehigh beat Duke, both teams advancing to the Big Dance. For Lehigh, it was their first win in a NCAA Tournament, however neither team progressed to the Sweet Sixteen, but their wins accounted for some of the most exciting moments in the tournament this year.
5. Basketball Brawl:If you were a student of either Xavier or Cincinnati it seems as though all people can remember was the brawl…and nothing else. With 9.4 seconds left in the game, it was clear Xavier would win against Cincinnati 76-53. After months of trash talking on social media and a big Cincinnati win last year, the rivalry of the two teams grew more intense. In the final seconds of the game Xavier guard Tu Holloway and Cincinnati’s Ge’Lawn Guyn exchanged verbal taunts. Guyn pushed Holloway in the face and the rest is history. A huge fight broke out as both benches emptied and fought, guys six feet tall and 200 pounds solid began brawling. The game was forfeited, per the referees and both coaches spent the next week evaluating how the players should be punished. Many players were suspended because of the brawl.
While these are only five pivotal college basketball moments this season, I am sure there are plenty more out there. Feel free to add your comments, of what should have made the list!
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Syracuse chapter.