Last Saturday, Princeton knocked off Harvard in an epic one-game playoff for the right to represent the Ivy League in the NCAA tournament. As proud as I was to be a Tiger after the last-second victory, I'm even prouder today. Though Princeton came up short in their bid to knock off powerhouse (and title contender) Kentucky, the Tigers stuck with the Wildcats in a classic first round matchup. And it wasn't just the end result that I was impressed (and, admittedly, rather shocked) with. It was the way the Tigers played with confidence, swagger and a never-say-die attitude.
There are two types of games where underdogs come up just short against a much stronger rival. The first, and most common, type is characterized by a blistering run by the underdog. For a while, it seems like they can't miss a shot, every ball bounces their way, and as momentum (and the neutral crowd) shift in their direction, they start getting the borderline calls. The second type is where, when watching the game, you wouldn't know which team was the powerhouse unless you looked at the names on the front of the uniforms. The two teams battle like equals, neither can separate itself much from the other, and at the end of the game it comes down to one great play that the favorite makes and the 'dog doesn't.
Anyone who watched Princeton's game today knows it was of the latter type. While Kentucky may be a much better team most days, today the Cats and the Tigers were as even as two teams can be. When Kentucky broke out to an early lead, the Tigers rallied instead of crumbling. When the Tigers squandered a five point lead to fall behind by five after a 14-4 Kentucky run late in the second half, Princeton could have rolled over. Instead, they battled back, tied the game, and gave themselves a chance to win in the final seconds. In the end, Kentucky earned the win by buckling down when it mattered, hitting an extremely tough shot with essentially no time left, and stopping Princeton from even getting off a half-court prayer before the final buzzer sounded. Judging by how they played, though, it could just have easily been a Tiger player hitting a game-winning runner with time winding down.
Princeton played extremely well. They defended brilliantly, rebounded strongly and played with heart. But it wasn't as if they played an amazing game. And by that, I mean it wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime sort of performance. They shot well, but not incredibly well (and were particularly brutal from beyond the three-point line), and they had a few defensive lapses that cost them in the end. Rather than a never-to-be-repeated performance that the Tigers squandered, I view this game as evidence of how good this Tiger team is. If these two teams had to battle it out again tomorrow, the Wildcats might again come out with the victory, but I feel confident that Princeton would give them another scare.
We've already had two big upsets (to date) in addition to Princeton's scare of Kentucky, and in both of those (Morehead State over Louisville and Richmond over Vanderbilt), the underdog performances weren't flukes. As many predicted, this bracket is filled with a bunch of approximately-equal teams. Don't be surprised when the Bucknells and Belmonts of the world continue to scare, and knock off, the big boys throughout tonight and tomorrow. This is the start of a new era of college basketball parity, and I'm proud that my Tigers were right smack in the middle of it.
Note: I'll be out of the country starting Saturday, so don't expect many updates until next weekend. In the meantime, enjoy the next few rounds of the NCAAs!
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