Hold onto your hats, folks! Davidson pulled off a stunning victory Friday night, decisively defeating the University of Wisconsin, 73-56,and earning a history-making trip to the Elite 8 in the NCAA men’s basketball championships.Several hundred fans packed all three levels of the Davidson College union to watch the game, sending up a deafening roar when the sportscasters called the game for Davidson shortly before the buzzer sounded. This set off a continuous honking of horns and general mayhem through the heart of town that lasted more than an hour as delirious fans leaned on their horns and hollered approval of their home team.Though you wouldn’t know it from the anxious expressions on the faces of Jilinda Conway and Angela Allen (above), who are McConnell neighbors, Davidson controlled much of the game, and rarely strayed from the lead.

Davidson College set up dozens of television sets throughout the union, which filled early with spectators and media. Fans seemed literally hung from the rafters (at right), watching a game that kept smiles on Wildcat faces. During commercial breaks, students lead cheers, and rocked the house with repeated renditions of Wildcat theme song, “Sweet Caroline.

“What’s next for Davidson? The Wildcats advance to the Midwest region championship Sunday in Detroit, where they will face Kansas. The game will begin at 5:05 p.m. and will be broadcast nationally on CBS.

Davidson entered the NCAA tournament as the No. 10 seed in the Midwest region, but has since taken down the No. 2 seed (Georgetown) and the No. 3 seed (Wisconsin), looking increasingly confident and formidable. Davidson is by far the lowest seed still standing, as the rest of the Elite 8 teams are either the top seeds for their region (University of North Carolina, Memphis, Kansas and UCLA) No. 2 (Texas) or No. 3s (Louisville and Xavier).The last time the Wildcats played in the Elite 8 was in 1969, when Lefty Driesell was the coach. That year, Davidson lost to UNC. Davidson could potentially meet UNC in the Final 4, depending on how the chips fall.

And as Davidson has proven, the chips are flying high in this year’s tournament, and how they fall is now anybody’s guess.

LINKS

March 29, 2008, New York Times, “Davidson is Dazzling in Toppling Another Giant.”