By JOSHUA NATOLI
Sports Editor
Being a current resident of Albany, New York, I had to watch the SUNY Albany Great Danes take on Duke this past Friday. I made the smart move by picking Duke to advance for the sake of my bracket. I did find myself however, rooting for Albany hoping to see an upset. Who doesn’t like to root for the underdog?
I figured I might as well hope to see an Albany win, being that the night before my bracket took a beating, not to mention this city would have went nuts. As the game went on I had an epiphany about what I was watching; Albany had no shot to win, at all. Not only did Duke have the talent, but they had the heart. Coach Mike Krzyzewski would never let his team lose to a fifteen-seed for the second year in a row, not these Blue Devils. The Great Danes were outmatched, outsized, outsmarted, and they knew it.
Crazy upsets only occur when the underdog goes into the game having no fear, playing to their opponent’s level. The underdog also needs to be a decent team. This is the case with the upset of Florida Gulf Coast University over Georgetown. Georgetown expected next to nothing from FGCU and caught a beat down. The Hoyas must not have checked FGCU’s record to see a win over the now number two-seeded Miami (FL) Hurricanes. These guys can play and should never be slept on.
The Great Danes are no FGCU. In the America East Conference title game against Vermont, Albany happened to be the better team in a very sloppy contest. Late game turnovers that would have cost other teams games went in vain as neither team could put the ball in the basket. Even the Kentucky Wildcats would have had a better shot this year than the Great Danes.
I ran scenarios in my mind during commercial breaks thinking of ways Albany could possibly pull this out. Maybe if they went on a 15-0 run they will take the lead, completely shut down Seth Curry, Ryan Kelly, and Mason Plumlee, and make their free throws to close it out. I had a better shot at winning the three-hundred million dollar lottery than watching that happen. You could just tell by looking at the Danes’ faces that they did not want it more than Duke. The fire was non-existent. No matter who was on Mason Plumlee they would just end up getting muscled to the side, allowing high-percentage shots from the block. No guard on Albany could stay in front of Curry or Rasheed Sulaimon.
The upset-minded teams we see year after year all have one thing in common; the ability to hang with their opponents no matter who they may be. So far this year we have seen that kind of drive from Oregon, FGCU, LaSalle, and Ole Miss. Teams that have fire are successful. This year’s tournament has proven to be one of the wildest yet, and it is not over. The chances of us seeing another wild outcome are very high.
