OutKick Readers Reveal Favorite March Madness Moments, David Hookstead Shares Epic 2015 Party Footage
March Madness is officially fully underway, and that had me thinking one very simple question:
What are the greatest moments from tournament history for OutKick readers?
If you're reading OutKick, there's a near 100% chance that you're a huge college basketball fan and love the NCAA Tournament. If you don't, then I have to start asking a lot of questions.
There's nothing that gets the blood pumping like the start of the NCAA Tournament. Naturally, I was curious to see what the readers were thinking (always feel free to reach out to David.Hookstead@outkick.com) and take a walk down memory lane.
For me, it's not a tough call at all. My favorite March Madness moment was Wisconsin beating 38-0 Kentucky in the 2015 Final Four.
We'd spent all week planning what we were going to do. Where would the pregame happen? Where would we watch the game? Anticipating a win, what was the immediate plan afterwards? If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. Of course, even the best devised plans go out the window once the first shot is fired.
We settled on watching the game at Churchkey. It's a hell of a bar in Madison that at the time served $3 pitchers on Thursday nights and was our go-to spot. However, there was trouble before the game even began. One of my best friends had recently started seeing a girl, and said he was going to watch the game with her and her friends. Absolute insanity. I told him he would immediately regret his decision. Final Four banners are forever. People to date come and go, especially in college.
Those of us who did make it to Churchkey with the boys (and perhaps others) watched Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker pull off an incredible win over John Calipari and an absolutely loaded Wildcats squad.
Now, I'm going to show you some video footage that I have never publicly released as far as I can remember. A massive party/sports riot broke out on State Street. It was insane. I lost my friends within minutes of hitting the chaos and was left with just one.
The rest of the footage from that night has been lost, and that's probably for the best. It was nine years ago, and I'm not sure going that deep into the archive is a good idea.
Check out the footage from the ground level as the party unfolded.
It's a night I'll always remember. Not only did the Badgers pull off an insane win, but the events afterwards were INSANE. We partied so hard and drank so much that the only thing keeping us awake was pure adrenaline. It was euphoric in ways that can't be described in words. The next day was an Easter celebration that my parents picked me up for outside my apartment, and I had to go full Jason Bourne to get out of that building while avoiding a situation that would have led to a lot of questions from my mom. Sorry, mom! I promise that while we drank places dry, we didn't do anything illegal. Don't be too upset…nine years later. Now, let's roll into what the OutKick readers said!
OutKick readers reveal favorite March Madness moments.
There are plenty of great moments OutKick readers reached into the bag to grab, and it's a hell of a walk down memory lane.
Let's roll!
And if you need a really emotional one to tug at your heartstrings, this definitely put a smile on my face.
All these memories have me a bit misty in the eyes, and are the perfect way to set the tone for today's action and the chaos that will unfold over the coming weeks. Now, let's get some beer on ice, sign off with One Shining Moment from last year and hit me with all your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com!