The Twitter world was abuzz last night after the UWM basketball team topped off an amazing run through the Horizon League championship with a 69-63 win over the Wright State Raiders in Dayton.
The victory earned the Panthers not only the league title, but more importantly, a trip to the NCAA basketball tournament – their fourth in team history and first since 2006.
The title was made even more remarkable because the Panthers were picked to finish last in the Horizon League in preseason polls.
Twitter was full of UWM fans proclaiming their joy and what many felt was the restoration of UWM as a basketball force to be reckoned with. Among the tweets, retweets and re-retweets were a few wondering if I would now apologize.
Before the season began, I predicted – as did the conference coaches – that UWM would finish in last place. Those coaches were wrong. And I was wrong. I admit it. My mistake, but that’s life. Sometimes you guess right; sometimes you guess wrong.
I don’t need to apologize for my prediction, and the Panthers don’t need me to apologize. They proved they don’t pay much attention to predictions and outside talk by roaring through the conference tournament, knocking off one big win after another.
They played top-seeded Green Bay on the Phoenix's home court in the semifinals and won convincingly. Before that game, Cleveland State coach Gary Waters said that if UWM managed "some miraculous way" to pull off the upset over Green Bay, Wright State was headed to the NCAA tournament.
Well, so much for all of that.
The Panthers enter the big dance with a 21-13 record and a 7-9 conference tally, good enough for fifth place in the nine-team Horizon League. Admittedly not the most impressive numbers.
But the Panthers were tough and resilient. They have this knack of playing lights out in the first 10 minutes of each half, and they then ride home to a victory. They are a workmanlike team without a huge star. They have a rugged front line with enough speed and endurance to get up and down the court all night long. And with the season on the line, they won four games in eight days – three of the four against higher-seeded foes – on their way to the title.
On the team’s website, coach Rob Jeter was obviously ecstatic over the title.
"I'm so proud to represent the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the city, our fans, our team," Jeter said. "We all have battled through and persevered to bring home the Horizon League Championship for everybody that believed in us, and everybody that stuck with us through the good times and the bad.
"From day one, you could tell these guys really liked each other," he continued. "It's not really talked enough about in sports. A key ingredient to winning is you have to have a group of guys that really care about each other."
Right now, there's only one thing the UWM Panthers squad might care about more: who they play next. I guess we'll all find out when the bracket is announced late Sunday afternoon.
With a history in Milwaukee stretching back decades, Dave tries to bring a unique perspective to his writing, whether it's sports, politics, theater or any other issue.
He's seen Milwaukee grow, suffer pangs of growth, strive for success and has been involved in many efforts to both shape and re-shape the city. He's a happy man, now that he's quit playing golf, and enjoys music, his children and grandchildren and the myriad of sports in this state. He loves great food and hates bullies and people who think they are smarter than everyone else.
This whole Internet thing continues to baffle him, but he's willing to play the game as long as OnMilwaukee.com keeps lending him a helping hand. He is constantly amazed that just a few dedicated people can provide so much news and information to a hungry public.
Despite some opinions to the contrary, Dave likes most stuff. But he is a skeptic who constantly wonders about the world around him. So many questions, so few answers.
