Old Man Complaint: I Miss The Feeling That It Mattered And Meant Something When The No. 1 Team In College Basketball Lost A Game

I'll be honest, this is the oldest I've ever felt. The most out of touch perhaps even. Last night we know what happened No. 1 UConn went on the road and lost to Creighton. I'd hardly call it an upset. They were 2.5 point favorites. #DKPartner 

However, as I was trying to find something, anything, to blog about this game besides 'No. 1 lost' ,and a game recap like it's the 17th game of the season for the Tigers or Celtics, I realized what happened. I miss the feeling of when the No. 1 team in the country lost meant something. Don't get me wrong, it means something to Creighton. It was their first win over a No. 1 team in school history. They are fighting for a top-4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. All that stuff. Good win. Great win even. 

But whether it's social media, parity in college basketball, every single site having analytic rankings or something else, the juice feels gone. Let me be more specific, the juice feels gone in terms of number of people talkin about the loss. The diehard fans, yeah, of course we care. But everyone else has turned these upsets into screaming points about whether or not you can rush the court as a fan, how the No. 1 team isn't really that good anyways or how it doesn't matter because it wasn't an upset according to KenPom or Torvik or some shit like that. 

There used to be a time when a No. 1 team lost and you had it all over your TV. People couldn't stop talking about it. I miss that. I miss the collective freakout that only happens when Purdue loses now. Can we start screaming that Donovan Clingan is just tall? Can we question Dan Hurley since somehow UConn hasn't beaten a ranked team on the road since 2014. Not sure how the fuck that is possible. We were a day removed from UConn being the unanimous No. 1 team in the country. People wanted to start saying UConn vs the field come March. We should treat it like matters, even if it doesn't because UConn is still a 1 seed and they lost because Creighton shot 50% from three and was lights out. 

I think part of it is we're just used to seeing the No. 1 team losing the last couple of years. This is the 5th time the No. 1 team lost this year. Granted the losses have come against the No. 4 team in the country, the No. 3 team in the country and now the No. 15 team, it's all part of why it doesn't really hit the same anymore. Part of me is glad that we can be logical, which is rare to say, when it comes to a team losing in the regular season. But the fan in me misses everyone freaking out because a team lost a game. There was nothing better than a Sunday night ACC upset in like 2003 and talking about it with the boys at the lunch table on Monday. 

Again, the logical person in me? Yeah, UConn will still be ranked No. 1. Creighton can beat anyone when they shoot like this. In the grand scheme of things, I get it. But I hate it. I hate being logical when it comes to the sport I love the most. I hate seeing everyone talking about the same stuff. It's also why I'm officially pro court storm*. Who gives a shit? Let the kids have fun because it at least means something to them. 

*Unless you're a blue blood. Have some goddamn respect if you want to be considered one

Let's bring it back. Losing matters. Time to get people to buy back in to the college basketball regular season. Forget logic, I want serious looks at if Dan Hurley lost the locker room. Can UConn or Purdue handle the stress of being top teams? We used to have it right in this country where old guys would argue about the dumbest shit. I miss that. 

That is my old man complaint. It's good to see the No. 1 team lose. There's your game recap.