Read the opposing arguments from Loyal Homer/Bet Loser and Sports Geek.
My first thought for this debate was to argue The Ohio State Buckeyes, who won a very impressive game against Georgia Tech yesterday afternoon. However, Loyal Homer was practically BEGGING me to let him argue on behalf of his new favorite team, so I acquiesced. (Editor’s Note: Loyal Homer lost a bet to Bleacher Fan and had to write about the Buckeyes. Check it out! He makes a good case.)
I have also already discussed the talent and potential of the Xavier Musketeers who rolled into the Sweet Sixteen over the Pitt Panthers yesterday, making them another of the many hapless Big East teams to crumble under the pressures of this March Madness tournament.
But Xavier and Ohio State make up only two of the teams still remaining in contention for the 2010 NCAA Basketball national championship, and neither have been a part of the REAL story of this March Madness. The REAL story has been the increased (but not surprising) success of longshot underdogs and mid-majors against some of the so-called best teams in the country.
Davids like Northern Iowa, Old Dominion, Ohio, Murray State, and St. Mary’s have already slain Goliaths from the power conferences like Georgetown, Villanova, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, and even the overall top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks. Because of these mighty minis, no office pool bracket survived the first weekend of competition unscathed.
No team, however, has captured the spirit of “The Little Engine That Could” more than the Cornell Big Red. Defying odds, stereotypes, and history, the Big Red have rolled into the Sweet Sixteen as the highest seed still standing. I learned a long time ago, though, that you should never judge a book by its cover. Especially not one that has earned the seal of approval from sage minds of staff from the likes of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton – those folks tend to know what they are talking about!
Teetering on the thin line between “mid” and “low” major, the Big Red received virtually no respect entering the tournament. As a member of the Ivy League, a conference known more for its prowess in the classroom than on the hardwood, Cornell cruised through their regular season to a 27-4 record en route to their conference championship. For all their effort, they were slotted in as a 12-seed in the 2010 tournament and were slated to face Temple (ranked 12th in the nation) during their first-round matchup.
The fact that Cornell was the nation’s best team from beyond the three-point arc got them a little recognition, and they quickly became a “sexy” upset pick against the A-10 champs. Still, most considered the group of “nerdy” Ivy-Leaguers a longshot to upset their much more battle-tested opponents.
At the end of the game, those who did believe Cornell had all the makings of a real tournament contender were repaid with a win, making them look like geniuses worthy of admission into Cornell’s own ivy-walled institution.
But the ride wasn’t over yet. Cornell could enjoy the reward for their stunning first-round victory only briefly, because a REAL test was looming on the horizon. Cornell would next face their first “power conference” foe, the fourth-seeded Wisconsin Badgers out of the Big Ten.
Wisconsin had already beaten several top-ten teams this season (Duke, Ohio State, Purdue, and Michigan State). By comparison Cornell should have been nothing more than a blip on the Badgers’ power conference radar. It seems once again that Cornell had other thoughts in their oversized minds.
When the hour was up and all the pencils were down, it was Cornell who took their more esteemed opposition to task, schooling them in every facet of the game. Wisconsin was out-shot, out-rebounded, and most importantly out-scored by Cornell, allowing more points in this game than they had all season.
The Big Red provided Wisconsin with a Master’s-level education in butt-whoopery (that is an official, Ivy League accredited term), soundly defeating them by a score of 87-69.
Cornell’s tournament play thus far has been nothing short of remarkable. Both their program and the conference that they represent have long suffered when in competition with other Division I programs. As a school, 2010 marks Cornell’s third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. It is only the fifth overall tournament appearance in the entire history of the school, with two other one-and-done appearances in 1954 and 1988. As far as the conference is concerned, the last time an Ivy League school won even a single tournament game was in 1998 when Princeton defeated UNLV.
Now Cornell is the first Ivy League member since 1979 to survive the first weekend of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Whether they win or lose against the top-seeded Kentucky Wildcats on Thursday night during their Sweet Sixteen matchup, the Big Red have already proven to be biggest winners in a tournament loaded with mid-major magic!
Posted by Bleacher Fan 
