I spent one year on the campus of Old Dominion University (ODU). I rekindled my love for basketball during this time, but I did not attend a single basketball game. I would come to regret this. Instead of walking down the street to cheer on the Monarchs, my roommate and I sat in our dorm watching Wizards games and playing NBA 2K6. After my sophomore year, I moved back home to Northern Virginia and finished my undergraduate degree at a now-defunct ODU satellite campus.
In fall 2006, I was back in Northern Virginia. One Saturday morning, I ended up turning on the TV in my room and found ODU’s men’s team playing on the local Comcast Sports affiliate. On this day, my love for ODU basketball was born. My girlfriend at the time (now wife) would end up attending and graduating from George Mason University (GMU). Both teams play in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). We’ve spent every winter since then cheering on our teams. It is a healthy rivalry.
As GMU proved in 2006 with its Final Four run, the CAA is one of the most underrated conferences in the country. How could I not be jealous of their success? ODU had not won an NCAA tournament game since 1995 (a 3-OT classic against Villanova) and to this date has still yet to make the Sweet 16. In March 2010, I would finally get a taste of postseason success. I could not get out of work, so I went in an hour early and left an hour late to take an extended lunch break. I was able to watch ODU upset Notre Dame in a sports bar across the street from my job. Two days later, ODU would fall in a hard-fought game against Baylor. It was a great season and it set the stage for what many predicted could be an even better 2011 for the Monarchs.
As conference play got underway in January 2011, it became clear that this could be another special season for the CAA. As the calendar hit March, my fiancee and I were about to get married and both our teams were poised to make postseason runs. GMU took home the regular season crown thanks to an improved and more mature core. The fifteen game winning streak they had heading into the conference tournament in Richmond didn’t hurt either. ODU had overcome a mid-season slump, finished in 2nd place, and appeared ready to defend their conference title.
We headed to Richmond in high spirits. Our arch rivals at Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) had closed the regular season on a nosedive and fell to 4th place. However, as the rest of the country would soon learn, you can never count the Rams out. You especially cannot count them out when the CAA tournament is held two miles from their main campus at the prison-like Richmond Coliseum. My fiancee and I knew we had reason to be concerned when the refs essentially handed them a quarterfinal win over Drexel. Our worst fears were confirmed the next afternoon when VCU dismantled GMU to advance to the finals, ending GMU’s epic win streak. ODU would also advance to the finals after dispatching Hofstra and NBA-bound senior Charles Jenkins.
ODU and VCU. Basketball in Virginia doesn’t get more epic than this. In terms of hatred level, it’s the mid-major equivalent of North Carolina and Duke. For the back story, read Michael Litos’ excellent post on this at CAA Hoops. I was worried about this game, but I knew my boys could do it, and they did. ODU dominated VCU in the first half and held on to win 70 – 65, despite a furious second half comeback by the Rams. For an ODU fan, it was heaven. We were headed back to the NCAA tournament for a 2nd straight year and we were convinced that we had just sent 4th place VCU packing for the NIT. With the right seed, the Monarchs were ready to make a deep run in March. I got married in Arlington the next day and life was good.
The NCAA Selection Committee didn’t want to do us any favors. Despite securing fourteen wins over top-100 RPI teams and playing a tough out-of-conference schedule that boasted wins over a handful of tournament teams, the Monarchs were awarded a nine seed in the Southeast Region. Placing us in Washington D.C. was a nice gesture, but matching us up against defending runner-up and mid-major darling Butler was just twisting the knife deeper. I won’t dwell on the injustice here because it goes without saying.
Unfortunately, Butler came prepared for the best rebounding team in the nation. They beat us at our own game. The Monarchs were still right there, but it wasn’t enough. After ODU hero Kent Bazemore knocked in two free throws to tie the game with under a minute to go, the ball was in Butler’s hands. Butler threw up a wild shot and overtime was at hand, or so I thought. Senior Matt Howard tipped in the game-winner at the buzzer on a shot that was astronomically high on the scale of luck. Our season was over. Four seniors careers were over. Someone threw a Sprite bottle at Bazemore to add insult to injury. Warriors like him deserve better. My heart was broken, but I had no idea that it was just the beginning of my March despair.
George Mason would go on to defeat Villanova in a very exciting game. I was happy for my wife and for the Mason players. I have a lot of respect for the effort their players put in this year. Before we knew it, Mason’s season was over too though. Ohio State crushed them in brutal fashion. Talk about tough draws. My wife’s heart was now broken as well. I failed to mention something though. VCU ended up making the tournament and ESPN’s pundits had an embolism.
At least Virginia Tech was kept out again. I’ll save my disdain for them for another time though. Given VCU’s relegation to the non-play-in game play-in game (otherwise known as the First Four), I didn’t expect them to do much. I didn’t think they deserved to get into the tournament, but thought it was great that the CAA received three bids for the first time in league history. One day after Mason went home, VCU advanced to their first Sweet 16. My wife and I were worried again and we had reason to be. They would keep winning and as Kansas learned yesterday, the rest is history. Much to my chagrin, VCU’s story is still being written.
VCU is in the Final Four. For an ODU fan, this is the apocalypse. Of course I am salty, but even I know that VCU deserves all the credit in the world. Their players have been off the charts. If coach Shaka Smart was a stock right now, he’d be Apple or Google. I have conference pride, but I can only take it so far. Do you really expect me to root for my most hated rival? Can’t do it. From our heartbreaking loss to Butler to VCU’s unpredictable run, this is has been difficult for me to swallow. I am a D.C. sports fan, so you can imagine the discontent that I already experience on a yearly basis.
Saturday night will come and go and VCU will either be celebrating their spot in the national championship game or headed home to Richmond. Either way, the landscape of the CAA has changed in ways that cannot yet be predicted. There are several constants though. I am extremely proud of my team and university, regardless of how our season ended. I also know that the rivalry between ODU and VCU will only reach new heights. I may be bitter, but I can admit that the bragging rights belong to the Rams now. I have a feeling that this will go down as the NCAA tournament that I’ll remember for all the wrong reasons. Next season can’t come soon enough. I know my boys will be ready.
Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images
