March Madness and Regionalism

I grew up just outside Columbus, in the heartland of the Ohio State Buckeyes. 

There was an order of operations to cheering for college basketball:  first you root for Ohio State (of course), but if they lost in the NCAA tournament then you cheered for someone else in the Big Ten conference.  If not the state, at least the region should get the glory.

Ohio State lost last night, in a shocking first round upset. Even though I haven't lived in Columbus for years, my very first thought was, "Now that OSU's out of it, come on Big Ten!"  (Suffice it to say that my beloved Northwestern Wildcats--also a Big 10 team--aren't in the tournament. So I can't root for them,  but can root for the Big Ten teams that are in the Big Dance.)

This year I've observed a similar phenomenon here in California; I'm sure this phenomenon occurred last year, but I'm finally paying attention. Once someone's favorite team falls, they root for the remaining teams in the Pac 10.  At the barbershop today, barber Jay had his hopes on Arizona now that UCLA is no longer in the tournament.

It's nice to see that American regionalism is alive and well. 

This just in...Purdue (a Big 10 team) beat Washington (a Pac 10 team) 76-74.

Go Big 10!!