Earlier this week, the Wofford Terriers clinched a spot in the NCAA Tournament. If you had asked me a week ago what Wofford Terriers were, I would have guessed that they were a type of pet, or that they were characters from Fraggle Rock that I had trouble remembering. I most certainly would not have guessed that they were a Division I college basketball team. But, they are. And they’re in the NCAA tournament. For the first time ever.
This is the type of “Cinderella Story” that I could have gotten into a few years ago; I used to enjoy hearing about teams that were going to the tournament for the first time. Now? Not so much.
I mean, the tournament has been going on for about 70 years. 65 teams get in every year. I know that it hasn’t always been that way, but, still… there have been about 3,000 tournament slots available throughout history. You’re telling me that there are still schools out there that have never gotten one of these slots? Not one? Ever? What have they been doing all this time?
Is there a list of these schools somewhere, or am I just supposed to trust the guys on ESPN, when they tell me that a school is going to the tournament for the FIRST TIME EVER? This feels like some type of media conspiracy to me, and I’ll need more proof before I believe it.
More importantly, even if I assume it’s true that Wofford College has never made the tournament before, am I supposed to get excited? (By the way, is Wofford a college? A university? An on-line degree program?) Yes? I’m supposed to get excited? Just so the students at Wofford can watch their Terriers learn what a Kansas Jayhawk’s foot tastes like?
I might have gotten excited about this a few years ago, but not this year. Getting a bid to this year’s tournament doesn’t seem like such a big deal to me.
After all… Cornell got one.