Raiders Not Feeling So Blue

Saturday's game: MTSU Blue Raiders 65, Ole Miss Rebels 62

(Murphy Center, Murfreesboro, TN)

(For Part I, The Five Levels of College Basketball Crowds, click here)

The pic above got me excited -- looks like a packed house, in the round, with the crowd almost suffocating the court and a low-hanging ceiling keeping in the noise. Turns out, that upper level is pull-out bleachers that weren't out for this game. Despite the game being almost sold out online, the place was only 30% full about 10 minutes before tipoff. MTSU hadn't beaten an SEC opponent at home in 17 years, Ole Miss came in undefeated, and MTSU had a good team (unanimously favored to win the Sun Belt East). Would this be a letdown?

Well, the crowd filled up, and they certainly packed a punch. With Ole Miss leading 13-7 early in the first half, MTSU went on a 7-0 run, leading to a Rebels timeout and a spirited rendition of the fight song with the crowd chanting "M! T! S! U! GO RAIDERS GO!" The student section was a little sparse (likely due to finals), but one fan went all out -- dressed up in a Kermit the frog mask, and green hands, in a tribute to the Blue Raiders' longtime coach, Kermit Davis. At times, both teams seemed disorganized offensively, but MTSU had a lot of athletic guards and swingmen, leading to a lot of dribble drives and second-chance opportunities in the paint. Led by senior guard Marcos Knight, the Blue Raiders took a 4-point lead into halftime and led most of the second half. Ole Miss stormed back from 7 down to a 59-59 tie before MTSU took the lead for good, with under a minute to go, on a short fadeaway jumper by junior Kerry Hammonds.

Given the school's solid but unspectacular basketball tradition, I was impressed by what I would call a solid Level 3 crowd -- not packed to the gills, but definitely loud enough to impact Ole Miss offensively and force a few "crowd" calls from the refs. There were no quirky chants (other than "Marshall sucks" at Ole Miss guard Marshall Henderson, who played like your classic playground chucker -- 3-for-12 from beyond the arc), no t-shirt tosses, no special songs played, nothing other than the abhorrent spell-out-our-team-name-with-flags-while-running-in-a-circle routine late in the 2nd half. MTSU hasn't been relevant on the basketball stage since the late '80s, when they lost a heartbreaker to BC in the quarterfinals of the 1988 NIT on their home floor and followed it up with a 4-13 upset of Florida State the next year in the NCAAs. But the Blue Raiders were the #1 seed in the Sun Belt tournament last year, only to lose their opening game and miss out on an NCAA berth. This team doesn't have great shooters, but their athleticism should help them match up well with the better teams should they get to the tourney. This big school in a small conference (though moving to C-USA next year) might have a long run of success in front of them, and with it a diehard following that makes the Murphy Center a tough place to play.

Next One Up

The Road to 592 is off until a binge through Nashville starting December 18 -- Austin Peay, Belmont, and Tennessee State are on the docket for that week. I'll throw in a few posts between now and then, but for now, enjoy the holidays and good luck with the rest of your finals.

--The Road to 592 is a pipe dream started by a diehard Atlanta fan with a sparse history of truly great sports atmospheres (being Atlanta and all). Read up on my unending pursuit here and check out the full list of venues here. For those sick of conference realignment, you can also relish in another pipe dream of mine -- the 28-team SEC. Follow me on Twitter @andrewhhard.