March Madness: Unknown Schools That Made The Cut & What You Need To Know About Them So You Can Make Small Talk At Sports Bars
First off, hindsight is 20/20 and I now know I was over-waxing my eyebrows in 2007. Also, I started out my college days at Indiana University Of Pennsylvania (IUP), a state school near California University of Pennsylvania, to which everyone replies, “Huh?” regarding both.
So I feel the pain of college students who attend places not universally well-known outside their own Tri-State area. That being said, highlighted below are the schools on this years’ March Madness bracket that I didn’t really recognize.
They’re not exactly a small, black hole like “U of ‘Bama”, nor are they a heavy hitter like “Sarah Lawrence”; You’ve heard of them but you couldn’t say where they are or what their deal is. So here’s some quick info on these March Madness in-betweens that you can spout off at the bars to impress all your buddies, or the bartender who is definitely into you this time.
Holy Rollers:
Belmont U: Private Christian liberal arts university in Nashville, Tennessee.
-11 seed
-Undergrads: 6.5K
-Mascot: Bruiser the Bruin
-Annual tradition: Chick Fil-a-nugget catapult contest
Liberty U: Private evangelical Christian university in Lynchburg, Virginia.
-12 seed
-Undergrads: 45K (many online)
-Mascot: Sparky the Eagle
-Annual tradition: Hustler mag bonfire
Taint Catholic: Private Benedictine Catholic university in Beans, Massachusetts.
-13 seed
-Undergrads: 12K
-Mascot: Beans
-Annual tradition: Spring fundraising baked bean chug-off
Gardner-Webb U: Private Baptist university in Boiling Springs, North Carolina
-16 seed
-Undergrads: 2.2K
-Mascot: Runnin’ Bulldogs
-Annual tradition: Lake Hollifield baptismal polar plunge
Abilene Christian: Private, ‘Churches of Christ’ Christian university in Abilene, Texas.
-15 seed
-Undergrads: 3.6K
-Mascot: Willie the Wildcat
-Annual tradition: 24-hour Acapella Idol
The Techs, A&Ms and Research Schools:
Gooch Technical: Research & mechanical college in Goochburg, Tennessee.
-14 seed
-Undergrads: 4.5K
-Mascot: Marty “The Gooch”
-Annual tradition: Climbing the central campus “Gooch Pole”
PV A&M: AKA Prairie View U. Agricultural & teaching university in Prairie View, Texas.
-16 seed
-Undergrads: 8K
-Mascot: Panthers
-Annual Tradition: Pancake Picnic at Panther Plaza
Northeastern: Private research university in Boston, Massachusetts.
-13 seed
-Undergrads: 13.8K
-Mascot: Paws the Husky
-Annual Tradition: Dark web hackathon for cancer
Nut Butter A&M: Agricultural & mechanical college in Quesadilla, New Mexico.
-12 seed
-Undergrads: 20.3K
-Mascot: Peanuts
-Annual Tradition: “The big spread”, covering the alumni tree in PB
Niiice Privates:
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Bradley U: Private university in Peoria, Illinois.
-15 seed
-Undergrads: 5.4K
-Mascot: Kaboom! the Gargoyle (????)
-Annual Tradition: Markin Rec Center March For the Merkins
Wofford College: Private, independent liberal arts college in Spartanburg, South Carolina
-7 seed
-Undergrads: 1.6K
-Mascot: Wofford the Dog
-Annual Tradition: Gibbs Stadium canine talent show
Grundle State: Guess this wouldn’t really be a nice, private school but is anyone still reading the list at this point?
-15 seed
-Undergrads: 45K
-Mascot: Grundy
-Annual Tradition: Spring fling quad undie run for lupus
Mark my words, Taint Catholic will be in the Sweet 16. Side note, if you have time to click one link in this blog I’d recommend the Belmont U. nugget catapult contest. Honestly have never seen anything like it & a good reminder that there’s a wide array of schools out there right below the radar. Truly the connective tissue that holds higher education together.
*This blog was rough, but it was for me. I’ve been stuck on a taint nicknames kick all week & I don’t know if this even made any sense at all but I had to get it out of my system. Thank you for your time.