March Madness

It's that time of year. The whole world stops for a few days to watch CBS all day and night. The NCAA Tournament is on for 3 weeks. Everyone in America fills out the office pool and hopes they can pick the "Cinderella".

2 years ago, that cinderella was Davidson College. The school of 1,700 students located just north of Charlotte. They had lost close games to Duke and UNC early in the regular season, but they started out 4-6. Then the Wildcats won 22 straight games heading in to the NCAA Tournament. They got a 10 seed scheduled to play Gonzaga in Raleigh in the first round.

Gonzaga was the program Davidson most wanted to be like. A "mid-major" that had made 10 straight NCAA appearences. They had made it to the Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight. They had superstar players like Adam Morrison and Blake Stepp. And their coach never bolted for the big time job.

Davidson beat them 82-76 behind a 40 point performance from Stephen Curry.

Next was Georgetown. The 2 seed that was unbeatable. They had made the Elite Eight the year before and they returned nearly everybody. They had Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, two top-10 NBA picks. Davidson came back from a 17 point second half deficit and won 74-40. Stephen Curry had 25 points... in the second half.

Wisconsin was next. The 3 seed that played "hard-nosed" defense and was "tough". Everyone said they were the team that could shut down Steph. The game wasn't even close. The Wildcats won 73-56. Stephen Curry had 33 points. Jason Richards had 13 assists and 0 turnovers.

In the Elite Eight, Kansas came calling. The number one seed that would go on to win it all. They had Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers and Cole Aldridge and Sherron Collins and many other McDonald's All-Americans. Davidson had a team... and a shot to advance to the Final Four. With 16.8 seconds left (this would go on to inspire a book), Davidson had the ball and was down 59-57. They held it for one shot and put it in the hands of Stephen Curry. He got double teamed and dished it back to Jason Richards. Richards took the deep three and the whole world paused...

What if...

The shot clanked off the background. The miracle run was done. The #9 Liberal Arts school in the nation was one shot away from the Final Four. They finished the season ranked #9 in the national rankings.