When it comes to March Madness, everyone loves the underdog in the NCAA basketball tournament. In the first round of action, you look for the beloved Cinderella team to make a name for themselves. We have only seen a 16th seed take down a number 1 seed twice in history. It has happened twice since 2018 when UMBC (University of Maryland Baltimore County) took down Virginia 75-54. Then in 2023, FDU (Fairleigh Dickerson) amazed us knocking off Purdue University. Both schools I never heard of until tournament play. Taking down a 16th seed, I never thought that would happen in my time. That it was something that could not be done. A great Cinderella story could be a 15th, 14th, 13th seed winning their first game. I think the 12-5 combo in the tournament had been done to death by now. After these teams that most of the country has never heard of, it’s even better when they win their match up in the second round or beyond. I looked at all the unknown schools that have made the tournament this season to find that one which no one knows their name. A Cinderella team I can get behind. It’s not a 16th seed. It’s a 14th seed. The Bible Thumpers in Nashville, Tennessee – University of Lipscomb.

This year’s March Madness had a variety of interesting schools in this year’s tournament to choose from like High Point University, American, SIU Edwardsville and the clothes store Bryant. University of Lipscomb sounds like a swear word. Holy Lipscomb! They are nicknamed the Bison and they won the ASUN, Atlantic Sun Conference tournament. On March 9th they beat North Alabama as Lipscomb was a #2 seed in the tournament. It is the second time Lipscomb has made the March Madness tournament in school history. Last time, which was their first time in school history, was in 2018. They made it as a 15th seed, played North Carolina, and lost that match up by 18 points. The Bisons have never won a March Madness tournament game & that makes them a nice selection to be a cool Cinderella story for 2025.

Originally Lipscomb University was called Nashville Bible School and was founded by David Lipscomb and James Harding. In 1918 it became Lipscomb College. Then became a University in 1989. The school is a private christian school that you can get a liberal arts degree from, as part of the University is dedicated to seminary studies. The big school in Nashville is Vanderbilt which is only a few blocks away from Lipscomb University. I’m not one of those guys shoving religion down your throat ringing your door bell like in the Book of Mormon. How many commandments can any person break in a town like Nashville? Country music, moonshine, and sexy women wearing cowboy hats with sexy boots. I can see the temptation for an overachiever in Christian studies there, lashing out & painting the town red in an explosive manner. Then locking him or herself in a room for weeks for all the sins they committed. Makes ever tourist that goes to Nashville to party like some devil worshipers compared hard core Christians. I’m not going to assume Lipscomb University is only about religion 24/7. Everyone has the right to go with their passion in life. I have a clean slate for the Bisons and this article is about the Cinderella team that Lipscomb University could be this season.

Above is the Bisons leading scorer this season, Jacob Ognacevic, who averages 20 points per game. Jacob looks like something out of that legendary basketball movie that starred Gene Hackman, “Hoosiers.” Rest in peace, Gene. We lost a great one.

Hoosiers is about that underdog high school basketball team which takes the next step and gets themselves into the state finals. Lipscomb has played some of the bigger schools this season such as Kentucky and Arkansas as they defeated Duquesne, a team that I did not know until last year when they made it to the March Madness tournament. When the Bisons won the ASUN Tournament, they spread the ball out as they had 4 guys that had a big day putting the ball in the hoop in that championship game. Joe Anderson had 23 points who led all scorers that day. Will Pruitt and Gyasi Powell had solid games. Beating North Alabama gave the Bisons a sure ticket to tournament play as they finished the season 25-9 overall. They were 14-4 in the ASUN Conference along with North Alabama.

I wish I could teleport to places because Nashville should be rocking this Friday afternoon with two of their own schools in the mix. In the first game, the Nashville faithful will hope to see history be made and see Lipscomb University upset Iowa State who come in as a number three seed. Then later in the afternoon, Vanderbilt who gets in the tournament as number 10 seed play St. Mary’s who are number 7 seed. The Bison’s famous alum in sports comes from baseball. Guys like Casey Bind, Rex Brothers, and Caleb Joseph. Many small schools have no one that has played in the NBA. Can the Bisons pull off the upset over a Cyclone team who have history of being knocked out early in this tournament? Iowa State may be without their guard Tamin Lipsey who left the Big 12 quarter finals game versus BYU with a groin issue. The Cyclones ended up losing that one. The Cyclones’ second leading scorer Keshon Gilbert has been ruled out. You never know when a team like the Bisons who come into the tournament red hot winning their last six games, can be a threat to the Cyclones as they have that bad history that follows them in tournament play. We know the Bisons will have all the prayers lingering in the skies trying to get final approval in the heavens. Sometimes the heavens can play tricks on humanity supporting hated franchises in the NFL like the Patriots and Chiefs. Do the sins of Nashville put a gigantic dome on the Tennessee town blocking the prayers from getting to the heavens?

Some of Steven King’s stories have a happy ending. Our crystal ball is mostly on the fritz, but it’s telling us the Bisons will avoid a Cyclones disaster. Anything can go. I’ll put my hand on a stack of bibles and back the Bisons rather then turn to the High Point University chances. I would love to see many smaller schools win it and advance to the Final Four over those basketball universities that we all are sick of. The likes of Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, and UCONN. So give Lipscomb a AMEN!! Maybe the swear word, “Holy Lipscomb,” could work both ways if they beat Iowa State for their first ever victory in the March Madness tournament.