The aftermath of the UNC-Duke game has turned into a hot-button issue in the sports world this week, all because some students decided to storm the court.
I mean, can you blame them? Their team just pulled an upset over a top-5 rival while making a statement to the rest of the country that they're going to be a dangerous team in March.
Yes, actually, you can.
Court-stormings are something reserved for lesser teams when they beat big teams. By storming the court, you are essentially conceding that the team you just beat is better than you, and you're celebrating it because it either doesn't happen very often or hasn't happened in a while.
For college basketball's traditional programs, court-stormings should be out of the question for the sole reason that they expect to beat anybody on any given night. They might not be the better team, but they hold themselves to a higher standard because of who they are.
Let's put it this way: if teams consistently storm the court when they beat you, you should never storm the court.
And this isn't a rant about UNC. Indiana fans did the exact same thing after they beat Wisconsin earlier in the year.
Wisconsin.
Yeah, the Badgers were undefeated and Indiana was struggling. But for a school with five national championships, things are much bigger then just beating Wisconsin.
Same went for UNC. Obviously their relationship with Duke is a little different than Indiana's is with Wisconsin, but still—the Tar Heels have bigger fish to fry than one of their two or three matchups with the Blue Devils every year.
Now, Arizona State's storming after beating Arizona was completely legit and the reason why court-stormings happen.
The Sun Devils are the Wildcats' little brother in basketball, and rarely have much success as a program. Arizona, on the other hand, is one of those traditional powers.
Wins over Arizona don't happen that often, and the win might have clinched a berth in the NCAA tourney for the Sun Devils.
So while I understand the students' emotion and desire to be a part of court-storming—lots of emotion, electric atmosphere, just the sheer fun of it—some schools are better than that.
I'm not saying those teams shouldn't celebrate after big wins. Go party downtown, have bonfires in the streets, just go nuts. But storming the court sends a different message then just celebrating.
And by doing it, you're basically admitting you're not on that elite level where you expect to win every game.
TCU? Storm that court when you beat Kansas. Clemson? Storm that court when you beat Duke.
But for teams like UNC and Indiana? Let's cool it a little bit.
Back to the NCAA Newsfeed