March.
The greatest time of the year for college basketball. It's the time of year when the biggest tournament of the season is played and champions are made. While the NCAA tournament is one of the most fun times of the year, it also comes with plenty of sadness as well.
As we all watch the games play out and the winners walk out victorious, it's the losers that go off unnoticed, never to be talked about again. For the lower seeds, it's their first game where they are on center stage and in the spotlight. Sure, the cards are stacked against them having to play against some of the best teams in the country, but some manage to hold their own and pull off some incredible upsets.
For some of these teams, this will be their player's last game in their college careers. Some move on to the next level and some will never play basketball again. Either way, the emotions are the same; sadness.
They won't have morning lifts again. They won't go to the practice facility again. They won't put on the uniform again. They will never play in front of the home crowd again.
While the winning team celebrates their victory, the losing team leaves the court with tears and looks of anguish on their face.
The players aren't the only ones that will finish out their collegiate careers on this floor. Band members invest their time in school to the university and make the trips to games as well. A number of times we have seen images of members crying right before a loss in really astounding. People wouldn't think that they would care too much about a basketball game, but they do! They are students just as well. They wear the team's logo on their chest and wear it with pride, having just as much school spirit as anyone. The team losing means they have to go back to school as well as the team and back to going to class. Again, for some their careers are over as that final horn sounds.
How about the fans? They invest so much emotion into their team and have such high hopes going into the tournament just to have them shattered in a matter of a couple hours. They feel the pain too, probably not as much as the players but they still feel something.
March is an exciting time in college basketball, but in the end, there is only one winner and 67 losers. The madness eventually turns into sadness.
