March Madness is exactly two weeks away, and watching Wisconsin’s legendary win over Kentucky is the perfect way to prepare.
On the fateful night of April 4, 2015, an undefeated Kentucky team and the Wisconsin Badgers met in the Final Four in the most highly-anticipated matchup in recent college basketball memory. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
It was a team of future NBA stars against the veteran Badgers. Everyone in Madison was rushing to lockdown a spot at the bars to watch the game. I had a female friend in town and we hunkered down with the crew at a place called Churchkey. It was my usual spot, and we had complete control of the bar.
What happened next was without question one of the best nights of my life as Wisconsin dominated the Wildcats to punch a ticket to the national title game.
I’ve never seen an atmosphere like I did that night, and I’m not sure I will ever again. Nobody outside of the state of Wisconsin thought we had a shot of winning.
Everyone knew the Badgers were good, but Kentucky was billed as the greatest college basketball team ever assembled. They were 38-0 entering the game, and most of their matchups had been absolute blowouts.
Yet, they were no match for Wisconsin.
The moment the clock hit zero, an absolute riot started. At one point, I was literally standing on the bar smashing every single beer that was being handed to me.
The manager didn’t even care. He hit me with the thumbs up and we kept it rolling. Unfortunately, those videos have been lost to time.
Afterwards, we rushed to State Street to keep the party rolling and it absolutely did. Into the early morning hours, we engaged in absolute debauchery to celebrate Wisconsin’s massive Final Four win.
The next morning, I had to attend a family function, and I was absurdly hungover. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
In my 28 years of life, that night is without a doubt a top 10 moment. It was nothing but fun and memories as we watched Wisconsin do what nobody thought we could.
Now, let’s find a way to do it again!