NCAA Tourmament

The next term that is widely used in the sports world describes a team who has had an average regular season and proceeded to upset a higher ranked team in their conference tournament. They try to ride that wave of momentum into the field of sixty-four and hope to upset another higher ranked team in the first and second rounds of the tournament to make it to the “Sweet Sixteen.” These teams are commonly known as the “Cinderella” teams. These teams typically don’t make it farther than the “Sweet Sixteen” where their season comes to an end. A perfect example of a “Cinderella” team would be Gonzaga University. What Gonzaga did was give every other team in the West Coast Conference hope. To most of the college basketball world, it must seem as if Gonzaga magically busted onto the NCAA tournament scene out of nowhere. What Gonzaga accomplished was reaching the “Sweet Sixteen” for the third straight season. Only the two other teams including Duke and Michigan State can say the same. This is why they are generally called “Cinderella” teams. Since Gonzaga has accomplished this feat in the past three years, they are no longer called a “Cinderella” team. If a team completes an upset during the first round but doesn’t go on to win another game they’re just called “One Hit Wonders.” There are also many other metaphors describing this type of team which many people call “David vs. Goliath” success stories. Teams such as Duke or Michigan State are typically known as “Powerhouse” teams. They are called this because of their frequent appearances in the “Big Dance.” A “David vs. Goliath” success story is described when a smaller team such as Temple who had a seed of eleven beats a team such as Florida with a number three seed. Another example would come from last years 2001 tournament when number two seeded North Carolina lost to number seven seeded Penn State to advance to the “Sweet Sixteen.”

Another typical use of metaphor terminology involves the use of fantasy and myth. The tournament is described as an event that is so prestigious the whole experience is said to be surreal. Many terms related to fantasy and myths are used to describe the tournament. First of all, as I stated earlier, teams that aren’t expected to win are called Cinderella teams. These teams are typically called Cinderella teams because of the success story that was not supposed to have happened. These teams’ success stories are related to the story of Cinderella (hence the name.) The “David and Goliath” success story is another use of metaphor typically describing an underhanded team that beats a more prestigious team in the NCAA tournament. Maryland was the only team who was described this way last year in the finals because they lost to Florida State (the worst team in the ACC) during their last regular season game. Once they were in the tournament, they beat the number one seeded Stanford in the West’s final to advance to the final four while they were only ranked a number three seed in their division. The game was a “David and Goliath” match because Stanford was the number one seed in the West division. The tournament is also referred to as a “dream” for the players. There is o

Some topics in this essay:
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