Lets get things straight: When to and when not to storm the court

(I've been wanting to write something like this for a long time, and after the events of this past week, I believe that time is now. Also, I believe I have the adequate credentials to write such a post: I've been part of a court-storming following an upset victory over the No. 1 team in the country. But I've also been on the wrong end of many-an-overtime-game-winning-goal-dogpile. In fact, my ratio of dodging dog-piles to actually participating in them is astronomically-high.)

The storming of a court is a time-honored tradition in college basketball. But in recent years, it's been watered-down due to a lack of knowledge and understanding of what constitutes a court-storming. Many analysts, announcers and talking-heads have spoken out against court-storming when they have felt them to be unwarranted, most-notably, Dick Vitale, who comes from the Barry-Sanders School of Thought "Act like you've been there before".

Down south, in SEC country, schools are fined by the conference if their students storm the court, and only in a few instances (South Carolina/Kentucky 2010) would the schools probably be OK with picking up the check.

I mention this only because, well, this past week we witnessed at least six court-stormings, and I'm not entirely sure any of these games finished in a way that necessitated having the court stormed. Well, each contest had some elements of what constitutes a court-storming. But if you only have pie crust and no apples, you probably shouldn't make an apple pie. (OK, that made like no sense, but keep reading. I swear I'll stay away from the analogies)

The thing is, with the right game-results, and the right environment, a court-storming can be a beautiful thing. But let's take a look at six incidences that took place this week, all which received scrutiny from the media, in hopes to nail down a-somewhat-concrete set of rules or guidelines for performing the proper court-storming.

No. 9 BYU 71, No. 4 SDSU 59 in Utah



This was the biggest game of the year west of the Mississippi river, and probably the biggest game for each of these programs in the past couple of years. JimmerJam2011 was sweeping the nation. The Aztecs were undefeated. All solid reasons why a court-storming could be in effect. But now think about this: BYU won by 13. The outcome had been decided with four minutes to go. BYU is not a Cinderella-story, they are a legitimate top-10 team. Yes I understand, the students just wanted to touch Jimmer, but a 13-point victory over a team you were favored to beat by five is no reason to storm a court.
Verdict: Unnecessary


Providence 83, No. 7 Villanova 68 in Providence



Other than the fact that Villanova was never in this ball-game, this was a decent example of court-storming. But I'm not sure we can get over the fact that Villanova was never in this contest therefore Providence could have probably done with out the post-game chaos. But this one a good amount of prerequisites: a vastly-superior-top-10 opponent and a large, passionate fan base. But still, it was the wrong atmosphere. These types of upsets are bound to happen in the Big East, so a 15-point home win (unless you're DePaul) doesn't really seem like the proper time to storm the court.
Verdict: Unnecessary


Indiana 52, No. 21 Illinois 49 in Indiana



If Indiana had beaten Ohio State, this would be a no-brainer. But Illinois had lost three of four and were on their way out of the top-25. Yes, Indiana is a legendary program with a passionate fanbase chomping-at-the-bit to return to glory. And yes the Hoosiers won in-large part to Jordan Hulls clutch-shooting late in the game to claim victory but in this case, the importance of this game and the current market-value of their opponents didn't constitute a court-storming. Plus, it was a pretty half-assed effort as well.
Verdict: Close, but unnecessary


New Mexico 86, No. 9 BYU 77 in New Mexico



I kinda see why New Mexico fans rushed the court. JimmerJam2011 was at an all-time high. It was a must-win game for the Lobos, and well, it was at The Pit. The game was a close, back-and-forth battle for 39 minutes, but even with the nine point win, I'm not sure a court-storming was in order. I have no problem with it happening, but it could have been a lot better.
Verdict: Unnecessary


St. John's 93, No. 3 Duke 72 in New York City



This had all the makings of a worthy court-storming except for one fatal flaw: the Johnnies won by 21. A margin-of-victory that high negates a court-storming regardless of other pending circumstances. St. John's basketball is on the up-and-up, and playing against Duke in Madison Sqaure Garden on a football-less Sunday could have set the stage for an epic finish. But like I said, the Johnnies won by 21. If Duke had rallied late to tie the game, only to see St. John's hit a late foul-shot or game-winner, then storm-away, but even if St. John's had beaten the Lakers by 21, you don't storm the court.
Verdict: Unnecessary


Washington State 87, No. 17 Washington 80 at Wash-State

Rivalry game? check. Ranked-opponent? check. ripped straight from the headlines? check. Close finish? not-so-much. See folks, there's the problem. Wazzu was up eight with four minutes to play. They were up eight with three minutes to play, and were up eight with two minutes to play. The end-result needs to be more dramatic than that to constitute a court-storming. If Washington was say, a top-5 team, then I totally agree with the decision, but this wasn't a stunning upset.
Verdict: Close, but unnecessary


So you see, six court-stormings and not a single one is fully-justifiable. Now, having looked at a descent sample-set of mediocre court-stormings lets hash out some guidelines and prerequisites to ensure that court-stormings in the future are done only when absolutely necessary.

Prerequisites
- Must be a game of importance (Gameday game, Big Monday, rivalry game, whiteout, Senior Day, undefeated team, No. 1 in the country, Conference Championship etc.)
- There must be a significant difference in talent between the winning team and losing team
- The game must still be undecided with two minutes to play
- Only the losing team can be ranked.

Guidelines
- You can only storm the court once per season (but that does not mean every team is allowed one court-storming per season)
- A dramatic finish, such as a half-court-buzzer-beater can be grounds for sporadic-court-storming even if not all the prerequisites have been met
- The entire student section must partake (A half-assed attempt is grounds for an immediate revoke of any/all court-storming privileges)

Now, there are exceptions to every rule. But hopefully, if these guidelines are followed we can limit the number of unnecessary court-stormings, which will in-turn, limit the amount of bemoaning from the sports community.


Because, like I said earlier, a court-storming, when done correctly, is a beautiful thing.


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