Has it REALLY been a decade?

MADISON, Wis (CIVIC MEDIA) – With the match-up of Florida and Houston set for tonight’s National Championship game in the NCAA Men’s tournament, it may finally be time for a trip down memory lane.

Bitter taste STILL to this day

While a decade SHOULD make the sting of a loss less painful for the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team, this was no ordinary loss. Bucky made it ALL the way to the CHAMPIONSHIP game. This was and still is VERY rare territory for a Wisconsin Men’s Basketball team, after bowing out the previous year in the final 4. This is the part of the article where I start calling the men’s team of 2014 and 2015 “WE”.

I had zero to do with this team beyond an emotional investment. I never suited up for the Badgers, I barely suited up for high school basketball back in the day (way back in the day) at Ithaca High School. But, they are still WE. WE should have defeated Duke. WE should have been the National Champions. Instead, the reality of the 68-63 loss to Duke still stings even after more the 3600 days to digest it.

I’m not crying, you are crying

I can honestly say, before this game, I never cried over a game that I wasn’t personally involved in. My daughter Jadah and myself planned for THIS game. We had popcorn, we had a big TV, and we had surround sound blasting. We cheered and we yelled and, at the end of the game, we both had tears.

38-0 was quite the marketing wind-fall

The Kentucky Wildcats entered their Final Four matchup with us (as in WE, as in the Wisconsin Badgers) undefeated. It seemed like every Kentucky fan held up signs, wore shirts, and chanted “38-0”. It appeared many, fans and analysts at least, looked past Bucky. There would be NO 38-0 for Kentucky in 2015.

It looked, on paper, as if the Wildcats should cruise by the Badgers in the Final Four matchup at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana . That would change on the court, thanks in part to Frank “The Tank” Kaminsky’s 20 points and 11 rebounds. The Wildcats dream of an undefeated season, ended up just a dream. ON WISCONSIN (to the National Championship game) Bring on DUKE!

Would this have meant the difference?

With 1:53 left in the Championship game, a loose ball went out of bounds and the officials initially ruled that Wisconsin’s Bronson Koenig touched it last, awarding the ball to Duke. After a lengthy replay review, the officials announced that the call would stand, in a controversial decision.

Media observers were also critical of the controversial replay review. Chris Chase of USA Today wrote that “three highly trained officials, deemed good enough to be reffing in the biggest game of the year, disagreed with all three CBS analysts, all of Twitter and every American watching”. Sam Cooper of Yahoo! Sports was perplexed by the officials’ explanation of the call that “they just couldn’t see anything.” NCAA’s head of officiating, John Adams, later stated that the officials never saw the conclusive angle and got the call wrong as a result. That is something we Wisconsin folks have just learned to live with over the past decade. And we have finally learned to at least “deal” with the loss.

As painful as the loss to Duke (and Grayson Allen) was, we did appreciate the run, the fun, the dunks, and the swag of Sam Dekker. Wisconsin was in its first final since 1941 and we, the state of Wisconsin, SAVORED that taste. We just wish the meal would have lasted a little longer.

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