The NC State Run Showed Everything Perfect About The NCAA Tournament And DJ Burns Should Be Talked About As A March Legend For Years

It's rare that we talk about a loser in the NCAA Tournament as someone who should be remembered, but it's more than that. Hell, I've seen more NC State talk than Purdue making the national title game. I wanted to gather some thoughts quick and just say this is the sort of run that shows everything perfect about the NCAA Tournament. Why? The NCAA Tournament is dumb as shit. You play 40 minutes and the entire view of you as a coach, player or program can shift.

Think about it. Kevin Keatts was expected to be on the hot seat, possibly fired before they won the ACC Tournament. Now he's got a 2-year extension, I believe about $2 million more in bonuses and such and NC State captivated the country. It's been a fairly chalk tournament too so far. But NC State was the one team who everyone tuned in for. It didn't matter that they've won the thing before or are an ACC school. They had DJ Burns and the Vending Machine became a March legend. 

There are names we say and you immediately know them because of a moment in March. Ali Farokhmanesh, Paul Jesperson, Matt Howard, Dunk City, Max Abmas, St. Peter's, Harold the show Arceneaux, etc. You get the point. DJ Burns should be on that list too. The big man with great footwork, can pass, has the touch on shots, he won over America. Tonight? Well, tonight was simple. They had no legs and then lost O'Connell to injury and had to play Breon Pass who looked like he was about to be Spike Albrecht for a second. 

It sucks to go out in a game like that. A game that sucked. It would have been fitting to see NC State lose in heartbreaking fashion or some insane game instead. But 11 seeds simply don't make the title game. That's just a fact. What NC State did though? That showed everything perfect about this event. Don't expand it, don't change it, don't do anything. We'll have *another* NC State, I'm sure. There's always another Cinderella. But shout out DJ Burns for being America's Favorite Big Fella for over a month. And shout out DJ Horne for tonight, he single-handedly kept NC State in the game.