"Ball is life."
I'm sure that if there's a basketball team in your vicinity you've heard that phrase. Especially when March Madness comes around.
People are either playing basketball, watching basketball, or talking about basketball. They're doing videos with ball tricks or trick shots or parodies. Then there's videos of unreal, incredible shots, and crowds storming the court.
What's awesome about basketball is that it can be so unpredictable. The underrated teams are capable of pulling off a huge upset.
There have been three times- in recent history- that the University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team has thrown the Cinderella slipper aside and slain the dragons of the NCAA.
In 2010, they took down No. 1 ranked seed Kansas during March Madness and made it to the Sweet Sixteen. I remember watching the game from home as a high school freshman thinking "Wow, that's where my family went to college! I want to go there too! This is so awesome!" The final score was UNI 69, Kansas 67. A recap can be found here.
UNI had the opportunity to play the #1 ranked University of North Carolina in the 2015-2016 season. This would be a homecoming game for UNC's Marcus Paige, who hails from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The atmosphere in McLeod Center was electric during the game as UNI pulled out all the stops and showed the nation what they were capable of. The final score was UNI 71, UNC 67. A recap can be found here.
UNI hasn't stopped there. They played Iowa State in the Hy-Vee Big Four Classic Tournament in Des Monies, Iowa (Also during the 2015-2016 season). At the time Iowa State was ranked #5 and was undefeated. The Cyclones left with their first loss of the season, dropping to a #11 ranking. Granted, it was a close game, as were the others, but UNI came out on top. The final score was UNI 81, Iowa State 79. A recap can be found here. 
But the fan base is important too. I mean, we're the ones that give the team attention, we cheer on the team. We make it loud, we create the atmosphere in which they play. The team feeds off the fans' energy, the fans feed off the team's energy.
If anything, the fans keep the game interesting, especially during timeouts, celebrations, and free throws.
Star Wars distraction worked great tonight! #StarWars @ncssa_official @thePeachPanther @unitcpanther pic.twitter.com/QbmEtXzqha
— Panther Pep Crew (@PantherPepCrew) December 31, 2015 The fans break out the big faces, the weird outfits, yell the distracting things that throw off the other team. Even the bench can do that. Recently the spotlight has been on the "Monmouth Bench Mob," players on the Monmouth basketball team that ride the bench and have some creative celebrations. Celebrations like these make the game even more entertaining.Not much can stop students from going to basketball games or playing basketball. Not even if the game is at 7 a.m. and -- if you're Pep Crew or Pep Band -- you have to be there an hour early.
Even if you don't have access to the game or updates about the game, basketball will be on the mind. It will especially pester you if there's absolutely NO ACCESS to what's up (no Internet or radio). Traveling for Christmas, I had to get updates on the Panthers' first game in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamondhead Classic whenever I had access to Wi-Fi (which was mostly at rest stops).
Out of state? If you do have tv access, net access, or access to the airwaves you can still show your spirit and be a fan anyway.
And how much sleep you got or did not get will not matter. You cheer on your team anyway.
Shade gets thrown on rival schools no matter what conference no matter what division of the NCAA your school's in. A rivalry's a rivalry. 
*PSA: WICHITA IS NOT A STATE. And YES, I acknowledge that I spelled Wichita incorrectly in my tweet, but you try having stellar spelling abilities when you've been road tripping for a total of 18 hours with only four hours of sleep.
People love basketball so much they make videos to show off their skills and goofs.
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You can find the sequel here.
And, if you really wanted to learn the Interlude dance, but was disappointed when they said "We're going to show you the Interlude Dance...basketball dunks" you can find the the original Interlude video here.
But maybe we should leave the dunking to the masters...
Like, Wes Washpun...
Or (throwing you back a little bit) Seth Tuttle...
Yes. Ball is life. There's the game itself- watching it, playing it- and then there's what you take from it. That would be the videos, trick shots, songs about the game or its players (like "Space Jam," "Do the John Wall," and "That's How I Beat Shaq"). Basketball could probably be considered a large part of the American culture. It's definitely a huge part of the college experience.
To keep updated with the UNI basketball teams you can follow them on twitter: @UNImbb and @UNIPantherWBB. Both do an outstanding job of live tweeting games and updates.
You can also follow all UNI athletics through their website and YouTube channel.
And, if you want to get the game from the student perspective, you can also follow the Panther Pep Crew on twitter: @PantherPepCrew.
Pretty sure Coach Jacobson approves this message. 
I mean, he's got my vote.
man running in forestPhoto by 
