Kennesaw State Students Drive All Night, Arrive In Greensboro For The Experience Of A Lifetime, First NCAA Appearance

GREENSBORO- The group of friends were loud and proud, as they all double-fisted beers on St. Patricks Day inside the Greensboro Coliseum. Kennesaw State was playing in its first NCAA Tournament game, so no matter that Xavier won, these fans clad in yellow brought the noise.

One by one, I saw each student filing back into their seats after halftime with a few beers in their hand, deciding to stand for the entire game. They were certainly going to make the most out of this experience at the NCAA Tournament.

For the fans sitting behind them, well they were out of luck today, unless they wanted to stand as well. The arena was filled with fans from different schools, not just Xavier and Kennesaw State, Iowa State and Pittsburgh fans joined the fun.

After every shot made, the group of college students were getting louder, to the dismay of some older fans who must've not remembered this was an NCAA Tournament game. For a school that hasn't had the opportunity to participate in one of these games, the section of Kennesaw State fans weren't going to waste this opportunity.

Kennesaw State students traveled through the night to experience NCAA Tournament

Kennesaw State Students Put Together Plan For NCAA Tourney

It started as a group chat last weekend, once they found out Kennesaw State was heading to the NCAA Tournament. They each sent $40 bucks to a friend for him to buy the tickets while they planned out the trip.

According to one of the students, Sebastian Torres, the group of of students packed into two cars on Thursday night at 8pm and drove the six hours to Greensboro. After arriving around 1:30 am, the group found a hotel and continued drinking through the morning.

"I told my teacher I wasn't going to make it to class today, which she didn't have a problem with. We weren't going to miss something like this. It's usually Liberty making the tournament, but once we won, this was happening," Sebastian told me at halftime.

Oh, and this group of friends came prepared to trash-talk Xavier players. After doing their homework on each Musketeer, they filled out a sheet of paper with each opposing player's information. This list included girlfriends, parents names and where each Xavier player was from.

Kennesaw State students prepared a 'trash talk' list for Xavier at NCAA Tournament.

It just so happened to be a day for celebrating, but the group chose Bud Light and Michelob Ultra to get them through the game, no shaming from me, these beers were $12 a piece. As the game progressed, the amount of trips to the beer stands only picked up.

Kennesaw State fans dressed in banana outfit at NCAA Tournament

The chants did not stop for a full two hours, neither did the constant 'hooting' from fans wearing yellow and black. As each minute ticked off the clock, you could feel the intensity building, with Kennesaw State looking for its first NCAA Tournament win.

"A lot of the students that attend Kennesaw are fans of other teams, like Georgia. We're finally good and win the A-Sun Tournament, it was our turn to have the fun," Sebastian Torres noted.

As the group watched the final possession come up short, the agony of defeat started to set in. But, I promise you this group of students won't forget the experience in Greensboro.

Or, maybe they will forget everything, it is St. Patricks Day.