Just a quick little bit of history for newer fans who may not know a ton of program’s history before tomorrow’s tip with a defending champ. When I was 8, UMass beat defending national champ UNC at MSG. When I was 9, UMass beat defending national champ Arkansas in Springfield

They say kids get hooked for life on teams between 8 and 10. Imagine being a kid in western MA when all Boston teams were basically trash and experiencing that. Hard to overstate the grandeur for budding sports fan.

And it was a pretty tight window too. By the time I was 10, the Sox were solid again and the Pats made super bowl when I was 11. People slightly older than me had great Celts run of late 80s. If you’re born in between 84 and 86, UMass was IT when you were becoming a fan

I say none of this as an attempt to put any pressure in the guys or the staff for tomorrow. I say it more to help contextualize the fact that for some of us fans, memories of playing and BEATING number one teams from bigger conferences remain seared in our brains.

I was almost as fanatical about the Knicks at that time but didn’t maintain that same level of fandom into adulthood despite living in NYC. Hard to say exactly why but if I had to guess why it was UMass that stuck it’s because of just how prominent they were in everyday 413 life

This was just before internet-related activities dominated our free time and when local news was still something everyone consumed. Look at any kid’s elementary school photos from back then and there’s a good chance they are rocking a Lou Roe or Camby jersey.