Hellllllloooooo Otterites!
As you know, Francis, Martin and I are all graduates of the esteemed institution named after St. Robert Bellarmine, now called Bellarmine University. It was just Bellarmine College when we all were there.
Last week, March 8th to be exact, BU won the Atlantic SUN Conference Tournament! This is absolutely incredible news for all of us BU fans. Heck, you’ve probably even seen all kinds of news coverage about the win and its consequences on ESPN, Fox Sports, SI.com and who knows where else because BU can’t go to the Big Dance as Marty so succinctly pointed out in his last Martin Monday before the game.
Stuff like this isn’t supposed to happen. BU has only been in the ASUN for two years. That’s also how long they’ve been a Division I school. You just don’t win your conference in year 2 when you move UP.
For years Bellarmine was a Division II basketball powerhouse, thanks to the incredible recruiting and coaching talents of Coach Scotty Davenport. They’ve been perennial contenders for the Division II crown and won it all back in 2011. Coach Scotty decided it was time to play with the big boys though, and BU moved up to Division I to see what they could do.
In their first year, they were predicted by all the “experts” to finish dead last in the conference.
Yeah, not so much. They finished second in their division and went deep into the tournament.
This year they weren’t a surprise. They went on to place second again in their division, just 1 game behind the front-runner who beat them twice. If they had split, they’d have taken first place. They still got a bye for the tournament and then proceeded to beat all comers.
Second Daughter (also a BU grad) and I went to the first game, hosted at historic “Knights Arena” at Freedom Hall. OK. It’s not actually called that, but it should be when the Knights play there. Awesome game. They were in total control. BU went on the road to Liberty and smacked them 53-50 for a stunning upset and a chance at the crown, also preventing a four-peat by Liberty.
I convinced Martin he needed to join Second Daughter and I at the championship game, also back at Knights Arena. He managed to snag a seat next to our season ticket spots, so we all got to sit together.
Dudes…
I cannot express how incredible this game was. It was a little bit of a slow start for the Knights in the first couple of minutes, down 5-0. Then they shook off the rust and hit three straight 3 pointers to take a 9-5 lead before Jacksonville called a timeout. They never relinquished the lead after that. Though Jacksonville hung in there and made a real game of it. Probably one of the most exciting games I’ve seen played in person. High stakes. Good play. Awesome time. My voice was raw from all the yelling. Mrs. Robert asked if I yelled a lot as soon as I started to tell her about the game.
Students flooded the floor when the final buzzer went off. It was as if they’d won the NCAA Tournament. Everyone went nuts! We took a lot of pictures, some of which I post here. Can’t post face pics though. Must keep our anonymity, you know. Don’t want you rabid Otterites tracking us down or the paparazzi showing up at our houses at 3am in the morning to take pictures.
How awesome to watch the team cut down the net after the game.
Congrats to C. J. Fleming, Dylan Penn, Scotty and the whole freaking team for what has been an amazing run.
Only sad part is that they’re barred from the Big Dance AND the N.I.T. (even though they had been told they were eligible for the N.I.T.). I’m not screaming at the unfairness. I am screaming at the stupidity though. Moving down a level? Absolutely you need to keep them out of the postseason. That makes sense. Moving up to a higher level of play and all that entails? No freaking way. If you win your tournament and its automatic bid to the Big Dance, you should get to go.
BU went 20-12 this year. That’s 3 more wins that my home state Wolverines had who are going dancing. Sure, I don’t think the Knights would win against Michigan, though the way Michigan played this year it might have been close. The Knights surely earned their ticket on all levels more than my beloved Wolverines. The Knights are the only team I would root for against the Wolverines.
They’ve gotten a heck of a lot of national attention and so has the stupidity of the rule being applied when you move up. According to BU, they’ve received the equivalent of almost $18 million in free advertising. Something that surely will help the school and recruiting for Scotty.
I have no doubt that the Knights will be back and playing in the NCAA Tournament in a couple of years. Maybe next year if the rules change soon enough.
For a tiny little Catholic (ish) school with less than 3,000 students, this is surreal and freaking awesome!
Go Knights!
#SwordsUp
