RALEIGH, N.C. – Magic. Unbelievable. Awesome. The best.
Yes, it’s safe to say that Virginia fans have enjoyed the ride over the last several weeks. Several UVa fans at PNC Arena on Friday for the NCAA Tournament reflected on the three-month run for the men’s basketball team that included the first outright ACC Regular Season Championship in 33 years and the first ACC Tournament Championship in 38 years.
That all culminated with UVa receiving the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 seed for the East Region and the Raleigh pod this weekend. Students Lizard Joynes and Abbey Pfister bought tickets for this round before even knowing the Hoos would be the top dog in the building.
“I was born and raised UVa so I think I might bleed orange and blue if you cut me open. This has been absolutely awesome. My brothers and I go to games, front row, everything. I’m just so happy to be here. I can’t believe we’re No. 1.,” said Joynes, whose grandfather, aunt, and father all attended the University of Virginia.
For the two fourth-year friends, the Hoos’ run to the top 5 in the national rankings and ACC supremacy has been a new experience. The two major exposure sports – football and men’s basketball – each produced a postseason appearance their second year on Grounds, but neither of those teams won the ACC title and that football season ended with a loss in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
Even so, for current students, the wait – and by extension this season’s joy ride – has been nothing compared to long-time fans and alumni. Friends Mark Smith, John Loftus, and Travis Daniel have been hoping for an ACC Championship or a special season for much longer. Roommates Smith and Loftus graduated in 1985 after seeing the 1984 team make the Final Four. Smith and friends have season tickets to football, basketball, and baseball. He estimated that they have shuffled back and forth to more than 540 games over the years. That included the pre-internet and Stub Hub era when you had to dig for tickets through classified ads in the newspaper.
From the mid-1990’s until 2014, and in particular the last decade, they’ve seen the Cavaliers suffer through a lot of heartbreak. The last 8 to 10 years have been a rough ride in the postseason. The football team produced just two bowl appearances, both losses, from 2006 to 2014. The basketball team, meanwhile, had not even made the ACC Tournament Semifinals since 1995. Even the 2007 team that shared the regular season title in the ACC, didn’t make the weekend of the conference tournament and lost before the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
Back in 2009, both teams posted a losing record. That was the first time since 1976-77 that both the football and men’s basketball team finished with losing records. Rest assured, Wahoos everywhere have enjoyed this season’s “first time since …” parade a lot more than the misery of 2009.
“It’s been magic. It’s been an emotional experience. You shed tears all the times we’ve had our backs broken somewhere and as Virginia fans we’ve all been waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Smith said. “It really has been a labor of love. A lot of money, blood, sweat, and tears but we finally did it. I’ve watched the last five minutes 10 times on replay and I cry every time it’s played.”
Pfister saw that magical moment in the ACC Tournament in her hometown of Greensboro. As the game progressed and it became more and more evident that the Hoos were going to prevail, the moment started to sink in. And when Duke fans started to file out of the building and her dad wondered if they should stay for the celebration and net-cutting ceremony, she made sure they didn’t budge.
And then they shared a special father-child moment swaying to the Good Old Song.
“It’s just unbelievable really. I went to the ACC Tournament with my dad and it was the best game of my life to watch that,” Pfister said. “We had great seats and it was so exciting that we were there. As it got closer and closer, I was like ‘Oh my gosh, we’re going to win it.’ … Singing the Good Old Song with my dad was the best. I loved it.”
