Most small businesspeople know the feeling of being a David up against a Goliath. In the world of sports, perhaps the ultimate David v. Goliath scenario is when a first seed meets a sixteen seed in the first round of the NCAA tournament. So far, Goliath hasn't been too easy on David: since the 64-team tournament began in 1985, a one seed has never lost in the first round.
This afternoon, sixteen seed East Tennessee State will face one seed Pittsburgh. While the point spread is at 20 in favor of Pitt, the ETSU Bucs have at least one piece of history on their side. They are one of only a few 16 seeds to come tantalizingly close to victory over a number one seed. In 1989, ETSU lost to Oklahoma by just a single point. The final score was 72-71. That same year, a 16 seed Princeton team had another single-point loss to the Georgetown Hoyas. A year later, 16 seed Murray State actually managed to take Michigan State to overtime.
I don't know if ETSU has it in them to come so close again this year, but underdogs everywhere will be rooting for them.
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HillbillyBill of TN 10:09AM March 20, 2009