DOWN WITH PANTS!

Down With Pants! favorite event of the year wrapped up on Monday night when the Connecticut Huskies defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 82-75 in the Championship game of the 2004 NCAA tournament. Emeka Okafor dominated the game with 24 points and 15 rebounds while altering virtually every shot that Georgia Tech took. Connecticut took a 25 point lead at one time but Georgia Tech rallied late to close the gap but never seriously threatened.

Overall it was yet another unpredictable and exciting tournament. All logic was thrown out in the first two rounds as upset after upset knocked most people's brackets into shambles including DWP!'s. With Gonzaga and Stanford choking in the second round both of my predictions for the championship game dropped out before the first weekend ended. Couple that with Washington's first round exit and DWP! had nothing left to root for.

Nonetheless, it was easy to find something to be excited about and teams to root for. Underdogs like Nevada and Xavier pushed better teams to their limit and never backed down. We saw young players step forward and make a name for themselves like Jarret Jack and Luol Deng. We saw great players like Okafor and Jameer Nelson give everything they had in victory and defeat. Every team gave all of their effort and energy but only one team can come out on top and for 2004 it was the Connecticut Huskies. It's just barely over and yet DWP! already cannot wait for March Madness again next year!