I’m going for Memphis because f UNC, UCLA, and Kansas.

My bracket pools mean I need UCLA and KU, with the Jayhawks winning it all.

But there’s a reason for that: I was born in Kansas, and both parents went to Kansas. I am genetically bound to Lawrence. I root Hogs first, Vanderbilt (my alma mater) second, Jayhawks third. Attending a senior day game at Allen Fieldhouse is still one of the most stirring basketball memories I have ever had.

Yeah, the Jayhawks are bland, smart, almost too good. Hard to root for. But not if you are a Jayhawk.

Memphis is the best pro team in Memphis, one or two years from the inevitable Calipari NCAA investigation; UCLA too Gucci and Hollywood, West Coast snobs. I’ll root for Kansas, and then, if I have to, North Carolina.

Rock chalk.

I’m for Memphis.

Reasons:

1. Love the city. I went to college there and lived there for a while after graduation. I consider it something of a second home.

2. Being from a non-traditional basketball conference, they have the underdog thing going a little bit, despite their gaudy won-loss record.

3. Justin Baker. A good friend of ours and huge Tigers fan, he has provided valuable technical support to this blog from time to time. If I rooted for any of the other three teams, I’m afraid he’d obliterate this site.

also, another reason to hate UCLA: Mata-Reali is the ugliest human to ever walk this planet

Like J Hawg, my bracket needs Kansas to beat UCLA in the final. I also think except for one rough patch, Kansas has been the best team in the country all year and deserves to be the champion.

Like Stephen, I went to college in Memphis, love the city and have been a fan of first Memphis State and then Memphis over the years, but I cannot cheer for any team that has John Calipari as its coach. Too bad, as I was in Memphis last weekend and the city is really gripped by Tiger fever. UCLA-Memphis is problematic for me as I also have since 1995 rooted against UCLA at every opportunity.

Having said that, if it is a North Carolina-Memphis final, I will pull for Memphis, but I will root for the Tar Heels over the Bruins if that is the final matchup.

I live in Memphis, so I have every reason to pull for them. However, Memphis basketball fans are alot like Bama football fans. When their winning, everyones a fan, when they are losing, you can’t find one in a fifty mile radius.

When I first moved here from Little Rock, I heard plenty about the glory days of Memphis State basketball. I tried to explain that outside of memphis, their program was reguarded along the same line as UAB, University of New Orleans, and UNC Charlotte. Hell, even providence went to a Final 4 and I never hear about their glory days.

Maybe its the Razorback snob in me, but Memphis fans are fair weathered, and until they can put a consistant decade long program together, they are just another commuter school with a highly paid coach, and players who like their weed.

Based on all this, I still have one problem. That feeling in the pit of your stomach, when you don’t care about either team, that makes you take a side even when its on a subconscience level. That competitive nature in all sports fans that don’t want to see just a good game, but wants the winner to be theirs.

All this being said, I guess I’ll root for Memphis, not because I like them or will ever pull for them again. Just because I can’t fight that felling in my head that wants the city I live in to succeed.

Go Tigers!

Ah, KU just put a whippin on the Tarheels. Monday will be awesome, the two best teams as of this moment, playing for it all. Go ’Hawks.

So where did you land prior to the game? I’m not a Razorback fan, but I think I’d have to go Kansas in this insistence. Like you said, they provide the fewest reasons to inspire dislike and Bill Self is an easy guy to root for. At the same time, Memphis has the underdog thing going for them in a group that includes some of the most storied programs in NCAA history.

Stephen,

I appreciate your allegiance to the Tigers’ cause, and I have to say that, in regards to what would happen if you decided to switch your rooting interest, your fear of possible repercussions is somewhat warranted.

Don’t let me hear any of that “rock chalk” stuff out of you, or you’ll find your site suddenly bathed in Tiger blue, and I’ll send Joey Dorsey over to your house (or maybe Andre Allen, since he didn’t get to travel with the team and has plenty of spare time on his hands). You’ve been warned.

Seriously, though, thanks for your show of support. Go Tigers.

-Justin

P.S. Here’s hoping the Tigers-Hogs rivalry is re-ignited sometime in the near future.