Oh what a night

The clock's ticking for seniors. Soon we'll be saying goodbye to our babies' mamas, Adderall hook-ups and professors' hot-tubs. Yeah, it doesn't sit well with me either. As our lives come to an end, I couldn't help but wonder what the single greatest experience of college was? So I surveyed my fellow classmates to find out. I searched every nook and cranny of campus for seniors to reminisce with (yep, that was me in the bathroom the other day knocking on your stall door). \nThough I was treated to a wide array of stories, one kept resurfacing. It was the only response every single student gave me: As senior Jordan Ude put it, "The night we beat Duke is my fondest memory of IU; aside from all the times I got laid." Or in other words: The Hoosiers' upset of the Blue Devils in the 2002 NCAA tournament was the greatest experience of college.\nWhat enriched the moment was its utter unexpectedness. We were huge underdogs --I would've felt more confident being in Glass Joe's corner in "Mike Tyson's Punch Out." People who even mentioned the possibility of an upset were accused of witchcraft. \nMy entourage and I were posted at Kilroy's when it all went down (I wanted to watch it at The Max, but A.C. and Screech never called me back). IU trailed nearly the entire contest and seemed predestined for defeat. But then, the team came out of nowhere to overcome a 17 point deficit and captured the lead in the closing minute. Jeff Newton claimed the final rebound, the buzzer sounded and then boom -- bedlam!\nBloomington was overcome with elation. It started raining champagne, betting pool sheets were ripped into confetti, everyone hugged, leaped and then exploded out onto the intersection of Dunn Street and Kirkwood Avenue. The crowd expanded to thousands as students and townies ("Hey honey, there's a drunken mob outside, round up the kids and lets have us some fun") gravitated toward the euphoria. The celebration continued for hours as the appropriate response to a car horn was: "WooHooo!!!" It was the ultimate illustration of the importance of basketball in the state of Indiana (if only they could channel this energy into learning how to drive). \nFor the rest of the tournament, Kirkwood should've been renamed Bourbon Street: a sea of people flooded the roads after each victory, beads were tossed, breast sightings were plentiful, clothes were vended, rooftops became dance floors, and of course, everyone's blood alcohol level was higher than the students hanging on the power lines. Any year IU gets deep into the tournament, it should top the list of spring break destinations.\nOur school became possessed by school spirit. You could literally feel the campus vibrating from exhilaration. Houses were covered with IU signs, flags rippled from car windows, everyone donned Hoosier attire and teachers devoted class periods to discussions of the team (i.e. got too liquored up the night before to prepare a lesson plan).\nThat night made those who never thought they'd show any emotion over a sporting event become infatuated with one. It gave guys who had long endured criticism for being fascinated with sports and every "meaningless" matchup a sense of revelation and the chance to strike back and say, "See, I told you so. It's not just a game"