Above is a video delineating an epidemic that has spread throughout college basketball venues across the country. Yes, in case you were wondering, that is the site of the United Spirit Arena where a Bobby Knight coached Texas Tech team beat then 6th ranked Texas A&M. Imagine that, the student body at a 20-win team coached by Bobby Knight storms the floor following a win over a school whose football team routinely posts more wins than their basketball team. Which brings me to last night.       Â
Wednesday night in Bloomington, the unranked Indiana Hoosiers upset the 2nd ranked Wisconsin Badgers 71-66. Wisconsin came into the game with just 1 loss on the year; they were 21-1 overall and 7-0 in Big 10 play. Despite being unranked - and not up to Indiana standards - the Hoosiers were a forgiving 15-5 overall and 5-2 in Big 10 play. Â
Granted Wisconsin held the country’s longest winning streak entering the game at 17 wins in a row – but honestly Bloomington, what are your students doing swarming the court following a win over Wisconsin?Â
Take a step back and think about this for a minute. Indiana is a traditional basketball power with a grand total of 5 national titles, 3rd most of any school in the country. When you think Indiana – you think Bob Knight, Isiah Thomas, Hoosiers – you think basketball super-power. But Wisconsin, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, who are they? They’ve won what, a title before color TV?
I’ve decided that there are two issues at play here. First, the student bodies clearly don’t have a concept of what a big win truly is. Secondly, the act of rushing the floor has become far too commonplace. For that reason, I have come up with the first set of Rules to Floor Storming.       Â
From now on, student bodies may only storm the court following a win under 1 (or more) of the following conditions:
- Your school just beat the #1 team in the country [in either or both poll(s)]
- Your school has a losing record and you beat your top-20 ranked rival
- The 10/10 rule – your team hasn’t been to the tournament in at least 10 years and you beat a top 10 schoolÂ
May we bring an end to this madness. Thank you.
