Clerks

Ya know, we weren’t even supposed to be here today!

I mean that. When the NCAA basketball gods put together the tournament brackets year by year the whole purpose of seeding the brackets 1-16 is that by the time two rounds end, or known to everyone as the Sweet Sixteen, only the 1-4 seeds of each bracket should remain. While this has never happened the intention seems pretty clear: there is a line of demarcation of the teams the tournament designers feel should make it far and there are teams the designers feel should not make it far. 

For the year of our lord, John Wooden, 2019, Auburn was NOT supposed to be this far and you don’t have to go any further than looking that Auburn was assigned a ‘5’ for its dance invitation. Quick recap of Auburn’s season: great start, a stumble out of the gate for the start of the SEC season where we were predicted to compete for another regular season championship marked by a series of narrow defeats, the absolute nadir when Auburn was housed by Kentucky, and then a rally where Auburn did not drop a game until they found themselves winning the SEC Tournament Championship, giving us an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament (but thankfully, that automatic bid wasn’t needed because our record would have been good enough). There have been times when a run like Auburn had would have propelled us to a higher seeding but the trend this year was that for whatever reason the conference tournaments didn’t matter; thus Auburn got a 5.

For anyone who watches the tournament the 5/12 matchup is always an exciting game to watch because the 12 seed often upsets the 5 seed. Even more problematic is that Auburn was pitted against the team with the longest win streak in the nation at that time, New Mexico State, who had won 19 games straight (!). If you’re an Auburn fan, you get the feeling that whomever designed this tournament bracket REALLY didn’t want Auburn to have much of a shot to go far in this tournament.

But wait, there’s more! If Auburn managed to get past the nation’s hottest team in the country, it was pointed out that Auburn could potentially have to play Kansas next. Then North Carolina. Then Kentucky. Those three programs just happen to be the three most winningest program in college. Basketball. History. That is some STEEEEP mountain to climb. 

Never mind that Auburn has only advanced to the Sweet Sixteen (winning two tournament games) 4 times coming into the tournament. Never mind that Auburn has only made ONE Elite Eight tournament. Coming into the tournament, Auburn has NEVER made a Final Four. Let’s do some math: starting the tourney playing the nation’s hottest team plus having to play the bluest of blue bloods plus nearly never winning even TWO games in the NCAA tournament to begin with equals a very short run for the Auburn Tigers for the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

So yeah, Auburn beat New Mexico State. Barely, perhaps luckily. Truth in storytelling, I was at work listening to the first game on headphones. Auburn was up 10 with minutes left when things started going south. I went from trying to get work done to standing up and pacing my cube, trying to remember to breathe. We squeaked out a one point win. It was UGLY. But we won it.

Next up was Kansas. I was supposed to be spending time with my wife for our anniversary in Asheville. Don’t worry, I promise you I know what’s more important in my life and it’s keeping mama happy! Thankfully, she knows that Auburn holds a place in my life and she let me watch the game. She doesn’t watch them with me because she gets super nervous. Because I get super nervous! And I was SUPER nervous facing Kansas, goodness. Auburn comes out on absolute FIRE and leads by 26 at the half and goes on to coast to an easy win. I’m sitting most of the game in absolute disbelief but absolute joy; Auburn showed up so beautifully in a way that Auburn basketball, historically, never has shown up. It was the equivalent of taking a long, luxurious shower after basically being spat on for about a century. Auburn made it to the Sweet Sixteen to face North Carolina.

Against UNC the storyline was about the same, underdog vs blue blood. Would Auburn’s lethal 3 point shots fall against one of the best teams in the country? Here’s a sign that your team is ascending to a special place: in the first half, Auburn played hard but the 3pt shot wasn’t falling. However, they were rebounding on par with a team who was bigger than they were, Auburn clearly belonged on the same stage as this flagship college basketball team for this moment, and important to the game North Carolina never could gain much distance in points from Auburn. Another personal story: right before the 2nd half was about to tip off there was some wasp or bug that got into the house and it was making noise by hitting the roof. You know, that bug noise of wings and buzzing and ugggh. Just annoying. I go to get a fly swatter and the 2nd half starts. By the time I finish off the wasp Auburn hit 3 straight three pointers and the rout was on like Donkey Kong, neckbones, and cortisone. Auburn’s climb into history continues.

I have to mention our fallen player, Chuma Okeke. I wish him the swiftest of recoveries, not only would Auburn not have been in that game were it not for his efforts but they wouldn’t have been in this tournament. Okeke found his way during the big run that led to the tournament and it is a pleasure to see when a player who has all the potential in the world start to get it. I said out loud “that’s not fair” when he got hurt but to see how his team rallied after Okeke got hurt and to see how they rallied around him during that game and into the Kentucky game is the type of thing that makes a proud grown man shed a tear and get that prideful feeling welling inside of your chest. Awe inspiring.

Sure enough, against Kentucky, Auburn had every reason to lay down. The last team to beat them was Kentucky. By a lot. Auburn had won the SEC tournament championship. They’d advanced to the Elite Eight for only the second time in school history. They’d just lost the team’s Swiss Army Knife in Chuma. They could have called it a season and no one would have any right to complain. What we saw instead was that Auburn WILLED itself onto Kentucky in a way that I have not seen an Auburn basketball team. Auburn trailed by 11 in the first half and somehow, improbably, took a slim lead early in the second half. And held it. Would not give it up. Bryce Brown became a juggernaut, then Jared Harper took a swig of the elixir Bryce drank and took it home in overtime. Once Jared made an impossible layup to put us up 7 with a minute left in overtime I let out a triumphant yell! Every member of Auburn’s team fought their tails off against a team with far more pedigree in team name and stars on their roster. Auburn WON. AUBURN made it to a FINAL FOUR! This is literally Auburn history in the making.

I can’t tell you where this journey ends. Ok, I can. It ends in Minneapolis, where the Final Four is held. I can’t tell you WHEN it ends. I’m hoping Monday night, with me and a whole lot of Auburn fans shedding happy tears seeing Auburn tear down the nets. As fans, as the team, we are in the perfect sweet spot of everyone counting Auburn out from doing anything in the Final Four. Sound familiar? It should at this point. 

Regardless of what happens, I am happy that something I said approximately 20 years ago was completely incorrect. In 1999, Auburn wrapped up a 29-4 season with a Sweet Sixteen loss to a Schooney Penn and Michael Redd led Ohio State. I was convinced, utterly and thoroughly, that I would never see an Auburn season better than that one. At 30-9 and on the cusp of greatness, I can happily say that college kid was wrong. The adult me couldn’t possibly be more ecstatic to say that. 

And to think, we weren’t even supposed to be here today!