Tournament Means More To Cinderellas

TAMPA, Fla. - As I sat in "Upset City" for Sunday's second-round action I was put in an interesting situation.

I was no longer there to cover UConn because they lost and the only remaining power conference team was 12th-seeded Villanova. And as thousands of Siena fans made up the sections directly behind me, I realized that I was in uncharted territory.

I was surrounded by fans of mid-majors. Seventy-five percent of the fans in the St. Pete Times Forum were there cheering for small schools and as they did so, it really began to sink in for me just how much the NCAA Tournament means for these schools.

I have never been a fan of the mid-majors. I wrote a column last year saying that they really don't belong in the tournament at all - with exceptions from time-to-time like Memphis and Xavier.

While I'd like to say I pushed my feelings aside for Sunday's games, I can't. It was the fans of Siena that made me see things from the other side. For the first time, I tried to see the tournament not as the set of games that would determine the national champion, but as a proving ground for mid-majors everywhere.

A half-hour before Siena-Villanova tipped, the Saints fans were packed into their seats and, had I not known any better, I would have thought Siena just went on a 15-0 run based on all the noise their fans were making.

It was incredible. The cheerleaders seemed louder, the band was blaring and chants of "Let's go Saints!" could be heard back at Siena'a campus in Loudonville, N.Y. Unlike Duke, Kansas or us here at UConn who expect to be in the tournament every season, these small schools don't know when their next chance to participate will come.

Drake hadn't been in the tournament since 1969, and because of that and their No. 5 seed, their fans were just as intense Friday afternoon, right up until Ty Rogers hit the game-wining 3-pointer for Western Kentucky. And little San Diego had about 15 student fans in attendance for both games, but after the Toreros beat UConn those students had enough energy to fill the Gampel student section.

Heck, after they beat UConn the students somehow managed to get near the court and they picked up guard Brandon Johnson and carried him off the floor.

With this being such a rare opportunity for many of these schools, their fans really know how to appreciate it. And these appearances, as Rogers pointed out after Sunday's win over San Diego, mean the world to these programs as well.

"I just think it's good for our program in general," he said. "To be in the Sweet 16 and get to play a No. 1 seed, it's good for our school, good for our program. It will help us with recruiting."

It's so true, and yet it doesn't even begin to explain what else the tournament can do.

For example, had you ever heard of Courtney Lee before last weekend?

I certainly didn't; but now I can't get enough of this guy. He was a bit passive in the Drake game, but boy did he show up against San Diego. He made four 3s, 7-of-8 free throws and was 9-of-15 from the floor for 29 points. Oh yeah, he also grabbed seven rebounds and had three assists.

Before Friday's game Drake head coach Keno Davis said Lee would be drafted in the NBA this year - he wasn't kidding. You can just see how smart Lee is on the court; I don't remember him taking a bad shot or making a really dumb play.

It's a nice change of pace to see what kind of talent college basketball has to offer beyond the household names of Tyler Hansbrough and Michael Beasley.

And even though Siena lost, their fans stood and cheered the players as they left the court. They clapped for head coach Fran McCaffery when he came out of the locker room to meet his family. Watching this and thinking back to the atmosphere a half-hour before their game I realized that I was actually jealous of what they had.

Can you imagine the excitement on the Western Kentucky campus right now as they get set to play UCLA? It must be off the charts and I want that feeling.

While I can never have what the Western Kentucky fans have, once I graduate and stop covering the men's team and stop worrying about compromising my objectivity, then I will at least appreciate every tournament game like these fans do.

It's nice to be in the tournament year-in and year-out, but with that luxury, fans of the elite programs, I think, begin to forget how special the tournament is and how you get to show off to the nation if your team wins.

As I mentioned, I've previously written that mid-majors don't belong in the tournament. But after seeing things through their perspective this weekend, I'll admit it, I was completely wrong.

They deserve to be there, if for no other reason than reminding everyone how great this event truly is.

Dan Olender's column runs

every Tuesday. He can be reached

at Daniel.Olender@UConn.edu.