I still remember storming Memorial Stadium back in 2013. After failing to make a bowl game in 2012, the Missouri Tigers did what nobody thought was possible. They knocked off Texas A&M and Johnny Manziel, clinching their first SEC East title since joining the conference.
I remember dancing to “We Are the Champions” and “Georgia on my Mind” in a sea of black. It was an unreal moment in my young sports fandom.
But what does it feel like to watch your school’s biggest rival win the National Championship?
Exhausting, frustrating and flat-out demoralizing.
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament always lives up to the hype. We got a double-overtime First Four game, the St. Peter’s Peacocks and even a thrilling Final Four game between the game’s biggest rivals.
Every year, however, it seems I’m disappointed in the final.
I don’t particularly like the Tar Heels or any blue blood program, but watching the University of Kansas win is unbearable, even if it makes my editor, Bill Horner III, a Kansas graduate, smile.
Kansas isn’t a lovable school from the outside. They’re likely going to be handed down a hefty punishment for cheating by the NCAA, but it’s not like they’re the only program committing recruiting violations.
Earlier this year, they clobbered Missouri, 102-65, in the first matchup since the Tigers left for the SEC. It was a brutal showing for the Tigers and one that proved how large the gap was between their biggest rival.
I saw the writing on the wall when Kansas reached the Final Four. They were the only No. 1 seed remaining and the Jayhawks played a relatively easy path on their way to New Orleans — No. 16 Texas Southern, No. 9 Creighton, No. 4 Providence and No. 10 Miami. None of those teams were a top three seed and they played an injured Villanova team in the semifinals. When Kansas entered as the favorite in the national title game, I had already prepared myself for the worst.
On Monday, I went out to a sports bar with some school friends and it was almost like we went to school in North Carolina. Each Tar Heel bucket received a roar from the customers and then a subsequent groan when Kansas’ Remy Martin knocked down 3-pointer after 3-pointer.
While sitting in the bar, I realized that no matter what happened, I wasn’t going to feel good. A third of the game’s starting lineups came from the state of Missouri. Kansas guard Dajuan Harris is from Columbia and Christian Braun’s mom and brother both attended Mizzou.
I wasn’t watching my school play for a title. I was actively rooting for another team, who had made it farther than my school has ever gone.
There was no winning for me on Monday night.
