UMBC just made sure Arizona is off the hook for its embarrassing loss
By Nick Tylwalk
No one should be happier about UMBC making history by upsetting Virginia than Arizona, as no one will be talking about their own embarrassing loss any more.
Remember when Arizona, a team that many were touting for a deep, potential Final Four run in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, lost its first-round game to Buffalo by 21 points? After UMBC turned into the biggest Cinderella in March Madness history on Friday night, non one will.
The Wildcats were the poster children for the total humiliation of the Pac-12, which became the first power conference to ever lose all of its teams in the first round of the tourney. Yet UMBC shocking Virginia to become the first No. 16 seed to ever win a game means the Cavaliers’ embarrassment is a whole other order of magnitude bigger.
Consider that UVa was not just the No. 1 seed in its region, but the No. 1 team in the country, one that the selection committee admitted was the top overall team in the nation. And why not? The Cavaliers lost only two games the whole season by a combined eight points, smothering teams on defense on the way to making the toughest conference in the nation, the ACC, bow down to them.
But without taking anything away from the Retrievers, who actually carried themselves with the “we’re not scared” swagger that underdogs always claim to own, this is a belly flop of the highest order for Virginia. Despite what their coach Tony Bennett said about a “historic” season, the only history this team will be known for now is being the first No. 1 seed ever to lose its first game. That’s the way it goes when you fail this hard.
By comparison, Arizona’s shame is now suddenly relatively mild. NBA prospects Deandre Ayton and Allonzo Trier getting outscored 48-24 by Buffalo’s duo of Wes Clark and Jeremy Harris? Not so bad now. If you can’t even be sure of keeping a 16th seed from advancing, how can the Wildcats be expected to roll over the mighty 13th-seeded Bulls?
There’s an obvious amount of sarcasm here, and Arizona has plenty to worry about other than what happened on the court this week, but the team was getting lit up on social media for the way it essentially gave up after falling behind against Buffalo. Only Wildcats fans are going to have that burned into their brains now.
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Maybe not even most of them. That’s the power that the ultimate underdog has, and the amount of head-hanging Virginia has to do now that its going into the record books in the most dubious possible fashion. Arizona should thank UVa, but especially UMBC, for making sure its epic failure only seemed epic for a single night,