On Friday night, the St. Peters Peacocks became the first ever 15th seed to advance to the elite 8 in the Men’s NCAA March Madness Tournament. Out of all the tournaments that have been played throughout the years and turn of the century, it took a 15th seed this long to get this far. In 2018 we saw UMBC, a number 16 seed, win their first tournament game in the history of the March Madness Tournament versus University of Virginia. Many thought a 16th seed would never be able to win as the odds were so much stacked against them. I had never even heard of UMBC, which stands for University of Maryland Baltimore County. It sounds like the local DMV or local government offices. Have you ever heard of St. Peter’s until this year? Maybe a local grammar school. Every year this tournament has schools I have to look up. St. Peter’s is the definition of a Cinderella team in this tournament. The underdog Peacocks have taken out bigger Universities as they started with the University of Kentucky, a number two seed, in the very first round. Beating that slime-bag head coach, John Calipari, who would be a used car salesmen or selling snake oil out the trunk of his car if not coaching hoops. Then the Peacocks took out number 7, Murray State, to move into the Sweet 16. Friday night Daryl Banks III led all Peacocks in scoring as St. Peter’s would knock off the final big ten team in the tournament beating Purdue, a number 3 seed, with a score of 67-64 in a classic game.

St. Peters is located in the state of New Jersey. Across the Hudson River from the University is lower Manhattan, New York. St. Peter’s is a commuter college with religious aspects of the Jesuits. St. Peter’s is a school that has been on the fringes of Division 1 sports for years. Last time St. Peter’s made the NCAA tournament in March, was in 2011. This is the Peacocks’ 4th tournament appearance. Their first was in 1991, then 1995, 2011, and this year. The Peacocks have played in the consolation tournament, the NIT, 12 times. This season the Peacocks went 22-11 which was good enough to earn the 15th seed in the tournament. It’s been a great year as you go back to the Peacocks home opener that only had 434 fans show up in their own building, which they call Run Baby Run Arena, to see them play LIU. It did not look like that in Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia where many Peacocks fans made the trip to see history unveil by the thousands.

Last night, Duke advanced to the final four for the millionth time as we’ve been there done that. Before that, another powerhouse school, Villanova, would prevail over Houston. Can St. Peter’s knock off another god of the basketball hardwood floors in North Carolina who’s standing in their way for the final four? Then the other game features University of Miami and University of Kansas. You suddenly sense how this will all play out as North Carolina will end St. Peter’s magnificent run. Then the Jayhawks led by Billy Selfish will once again find a way to the final 4. The networks will want North Carolina versus Duke, an instant hard on for them. Since it is Mike Krzyzewski’s last season coaching the Tar Heels, it spoiled his last home game earlier this month. The story lines are just too much too pass up with old rivalries meeting in the final 4. Then Villanova versus Kansas, the other match up, would set everything back to the norm in these March Madness tournaments that had a bracket-buster team like St. Peter’s disrupt everything except at the very end.

If St. Peter’s Peacocks do prevail over North Carolina, this will be one of the best stories in sports history. Even though they have not won the entire thing, the final 4 would be even a greater story line. It would have that feel like USA beating the Russians in the early 1980’s Olympics in Ice Hockey. Perhaps you could compare St. Peter’s to Ukraine hanging in there versus one of the world’s greatest militaries in Russia in that horrific conflict. Imagine the school budgets St. Peter’s has in their basketball program over all these other schools. St. Peter’s has some volunteers on their coaching staff. The leaky roofs that can’t be fixed immediately that have flooded the gymnasium or the coaches’ offices. The gym is used for bake sales and other things beside the basketball team having full reign. St. Peter’s visiting locker room is a joke. I remember playing basketball in grammar school in an old old bomb shelter, and that is what I picture. Schools like St. Peter’s getting to the Elite 8 is a magic season. Head Coach for St. Peter’s, Shaheen Holloway, building a nice team with an inspired defense and playing with the eye of the tiger. You like to see Coach Holloway and the Peacocks advance now because there is no tomorrow as all the other schools in the nation are watching. They want to poach Holloway away from the Peacocks like the vultures they are when this story book ends. Then it would be like thieves leaving a stolen car in the middle of nowhere on blocks. They’d be just skeletons of their former self. Look at Loyola of Chicago. They are a smaller school, Oklahoma, and they pried Porter Moser from the Ramblers last season. Moser coached Loyola to the final 4 in 2018 and his team knocked out number one seed University of Illinois last season. Despite Moser taking his coaching talents to a new level in the basketball world, Loyola did make the tournament this year without him. What about guys like Richard Rinaldi? The former St. Peter’s alum and player for the Peacocks went on to the NBA to play for the Baltimore Bullets and New Jersey Nets. He is watching & hoping to see his ole stomping grounds prevail against all the odds. It’s now or never for St. Peter’s. You would think a small school if they could just ride it out playing red hot sizzling basketball, would win the entire thing at some point. I hope the Peacocks do it. The ending could be it was a great try and great season just falling short. Then we will all wait until that next magical ride from yet another small school we never heard of. If the Cubs can win the World Series in 2016, why not St. Peters? It is in the back of my mind. Cross your fingers and toes. I’ve had enough of these big monopoly schools winning the entire thing every single year. It’s the Peacocks turn. I believe in miracles.