You've heard of John Wooden's "Pyramid of Success" and Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs," so I figured I'd share with you how I determine to root for teams in the NCAA Tournament, in order of priority.
1. Princeton. That's easy, I went there, love the Tigers, love the Princeton basketball brand.
2. Temple. Again, pretty easy. My father went there, and the Owls have an excellent brand, too. They had one under Harry Litwack, Don Casey and John Chaney, and they continue to enjoy an excellent brand under Fran Dunphy.
3. Any other Philadelphia-area team. So, for example, I rooted for St. Joe's and Jameer Nelson when it went to the Elite Eight, and Villanova when it went to the Final Four. I'm a little lukewarm about Penn, Princeton's archrival. On the one hand, I was a huge Penn fan as a kid (both parents have degrees from there), and I respec their brand and program very much (huge Dunphy fan). That said, well, it's kind of hard to root for Penn, even if I respect the Quakers greatly.
4. Any team with a connection to where I live. That means Temple, again, as Lavoy Allen went to high school where I live, and West Virginia (ditto for Dalton Pepper). This, though, is a pretty small category, as most school districts might send one kid to a DI program in a generation, and, if that, what are the odds that the kid will get significant playing time.
5. Any team with a Princeton or Philadelphia connection. Richmond qualified doubly this year, because head coach Chris Mooney is a Princeton alum and Philadelphia native. Having both, though, didn't move Richmond ahead of, say, West Virginia. That also meant Wisconsin, whose head coach, Bo Ryan, is a Philadelphia-area native, and it also means Kansas (which I picked in my bracket), because the outstanding Morris brothers, Marcus and Markieff, are from Philadelphia.
6. Underdogs. Butler and VCU, for example. But, if Kentucky somehow were an underdog in the tournament, I confess I would find it hard to root for John Calipari, no matter how fundamentally sound his team has looked in the past couple of weeks.
7. North Carolina, because I love Dean Smith, so much so that a Carolina presence sometimes can upset the hierarchy (although it's hard to tell a close friend whose a Wake Forest alum that). Also, the sometimes fealty to Carolina would trump, say, #5, when it came to Duke, a program which I also respect, last season, because Duke's center, Brian Zoubek, is a Philadelphia-area native (and his father is friends with friends of mine).
Which means, of course, that I might be faced with a dilemma if Butler were to face North Carolina or Kansas in the NCAA final. Believe it or not, I'd probably go with the underdog, even against beloved Carolina, and most likely against Kansas, regardless of whether it was Wilt Chamberlain's school and is the Morris brothers' school. and was my pick to win it all. The reason? There's just a magnetism to underdogs that I can't escape.
Which means, of course, that my team usually will not win the national title game.
But, it would be pretty amazing if they could.
So that's my Hierarchy of Rooting.
What's yours?
1. Princeton. That's easy, I went there, love the Tigers, love the Princeton basketball brand.
2. Temple. Again, pretty easy. My father went there, and the Owls have an excellent brand, too. They had one under Harry Litwack, Don Casey and John Chaney, and they continue to enjoy an excellent brand under Fran Dunphy.
3. Any other Philadelphia-area team. So, for example, I rooted for St. Joe's and Jameer Nelson when it went to the Elite Eight, and Villanova when it went to the Final Four. I'm a little lukewarm about Penn, Princeton's archrival. On the one hand, I was a huge Penn fan as a kid (both parents have degrees from there), and I respec their brand and program very much (huge Dunphy fan). That said, well, it's kind of hard to root for Penn, even if I respect the Quakers greatly.
4. Any team with a connection to where I live. That means Temple, again, as Lavoy Allen went to high school where I live, and West Virginia (ditto for Dalton Pepper). This, though, is a pretty small category, as most school districts might send one kid to a DI program in a generation, and, if that, what are the odds that the kid will get significant playing time.
5. Any team with a Princeton or Philadelphia connection. Richmond qualified doubly this year, because head coach Chris Mooney is a Princeton alum and Philadelphia native. Having both, though, didn't move Richmond ahead of, say, West Virginia. That also meant Wisconsin, whose head coach, Bo Ryan, is a Philadelphia-area native, and it also means Kansas (which I picked in my bracket), because the outstanding Morris brothers, Marcus and Markieff, are from Philadelphia.
6. Underdogs. Butler and VCU, for example. But, if Kentucky somehow were an underdog in the tournament, I confess I would find it hard to root for John Calipari, no matter how fundamentally sound his team has looked in the past couple of weeks.
7. North Carolina, because I love Dean Smith, so much so that a Carolina presence sometimes can upset the hierarchy (although it's hard to tell a close friend whose a Wake Forest alum that). Also, the sometimes fealty to Carolina would trump, say, #5, when it came to Duke, a program which I also respect, last season, because Duke's center, Brian Zoubek, is a Philadelphia-area native (and his father is friends with friends of mine).
Which means, of course, that I might be faced with a dilemma if Butler were to face North Carolina or Kansas in the NCAA final. Believe it or not, I'd probably go with the underdog, even against beloved Carolina, and most likely against Kansas, regardless of whether it was Wilt Chamberlain's school and is the Morris brothers' school. and was my pick to win it all. The reason? There's just a magnetism to underdogs that I can't escape.
Which means, of course, that my team usually will not win the national title game.
But, it would be pretty amazing if they could.
So that's my Hierarchy of Rooting.
What's yours?
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