Campus, community react to beating Badgers
Few things in life travel as quickly as wildfire through dry foliage, but news of the 62-55 men’s basketball team victory over the University of Wisconsin Saturday accomplished the feat.
As the clocked ticked its final second at the Kohl Center, the reaction from the NDSU side was instantaneous.
The players hugged one another and the coaches wiped tears from their eyes.
After recovering from their initial shock, fans attending the game, listening via radio or scanning updates on GoBison.com quickly reached for their phones to alert everyone they knew that the Bison had achieved the unthinkable.
Within minutes, the news had reached the vast majority of students, administrators and others.
“ I had six missed calls in about two minutes,” Jay Peltier, a senior in business and mass communication from Harvey, N.D., said.
Peltier, who was at a conference in South Carolina at the time, finally got the news through a text message from a friend.
“ I started calling people back, and it was just like mayhem up here,” Peltier said.
Similar stories have been heard by countless other students around campus throughout the past week.
Freshman Carissa Axt learned of the upset during her brother’s wedding reception.
“ One of the groomsmen announced it,” Axt said. “We were all pretty excited.”
In St. Louis, Mo., a group of Bison Ambassadors was attending a district conference as the outcome of the game was announced over the loudspeaker in the middle of the awards banquet and was met with a round of applause by neighboring schools.
The level of importance began to sink in as the news of the upset over then No. 13 Badgers spread across the nation via various media outlets, namely ESPN.
Many people believe the game, combined with the resulting positive media coverage, will help prove NDSU was right in its decision to move to Division I.
“Things like this game are definitely overshadowing the challenges we’ve faced,” Kevin Teigen, student president, said. “As more and more of these things happen, people will realize that a school like NDSU really does belong among the best.”
The atmosphere of excitement hovering over campus has not been limited to only students.
Faculty and administrators also share the feelings of exhilaration the students have expressed.
Rodney Traub, an associate professor in the College of Business, said he was surprised but excited when he heard the outcome of the game.
He thinks the win, coupled with the team’s overall record, will help spur an increase in attendance at the men’s games as it did Tuesday night when the men played Idaho in front of an above-average number of students.
“ Attendance and winning have a very high correlation with each other,” Traub said. “Right now I think we’re on a roll. As long as that keeps going, I think attendance will keep tweaking up.”
The effects of the game have trickled outside the campus crowd as well.
Jobey Lichtblau, director of admission for NDSU, said he’s already heard a few potential students discussing the game while waiting to take a campus tour. He believes this shows the game will be beneficial in helping raise people’s awareness of the school.
“ I’ve seen us have a lot more exposure with Division I, but this (game) was a step to even gain more exposure,” Lichtblau said.
Whether ESPN’s label of this as the biggest upset in college basketball in 2006, only time will tell.
The question is, however, if this win will have a lasting effect on NDSU.
For now, the school is reveling in a degree of school pride more often seen in the Big Ten.
The hot topic of conversation is how NDSU took on a giant in Division I and not only won against all odds, but also won playing the game their way — the North Dakota way.