To be fair, "football" has a way broader appeal than Ivy League sports.

Sadly, The Shot ended up losing 48% to 52%. If you look at the map, you can see the state-by-state breakdown; apparently Davis really struck a chord with the Midwest. And as with most presidential elections, I am entirely unsurprised to see which way Massachusetts voted. Wouldn’t be surprised if there was a campus-wide one-day moratorium on SportsCenter over at Hahvahd. (An exercise in empathy: imagine if they scored the devastating buzzer-beater and we had to watch it ad nauseum on the Frist TV. I can only hope someone would intervene and switch it to Food Network or something.)

Meanwhile, Davis’s teammate Ian Hummer ‘13 has cropped up on a very, very different ESPN poll. An enterprising journalist went through all the rosters in the men’s tournament, plucked out the 64 finest names, and made a bracket out of them. The criteria: “fun to say, fun to spell or cool and unusual.” Hummer’s name certainly conjures up nice automotive imagery, and there’s a satisfying simplicity to it, but he’s going to need some major support: his section of the draw boasts heavyweights such as Brockeith Pane (Utah State) and Mouphtaou Yarou (Villanova).

Not an easy draw for Ian.

As you can see, they gave Hummer the 3 seed, and his first round matchup is against one Eso Akunne of Michigan. Vote for him here! Although it might be futile … I wouldn’t be too shocked if God Shammgod came out of nowhere and won the tournament, despite being 34 years old and not currently on a NCAA roster. He has one of the greatest names in the history of man, let alone in college basketball. (You’ll notice one of the other regions of the bracket is named after him.) Shammgod played two seasons at Providence College, got drafted and had an unremarkable career in the pros, but really who cares the dude managed to get the word “god” in his name twice. Also, unreasonably good at dribbling.

Fortunately, even if our Tigers don’t make it too far in obscure polls, they’ve still got a shot in the actual NCAA tournament. For the first time ever, both our men’s and women’s teams have made it to the Big Dance. We’ll have a more thorough tournament preview up shortly.

Princeton University Students, do you want to support your Tigers and head to the NCAA Tournament with the Women’s basketball team, well now is your chance.  We are looking for an outgoing and fun PU Student to be the Princeton Tiger mascot during next week’s NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, site TBD.  If you want to learn more please email Scott at sjurgens@princeton.edu

DO YOU WANT TO BE THIS!

We did email Scott, who happens to be Director of Athletic Marketing Scott Jurgens. He informed us that the usual mascot will be traveling with his family over spring break and can’t accompany the team to the Big Dance. He’s looking for more eager candidates for the rest of this year and is also looking ahead to next year. These are big paws to fill, however, and according to Jurgens, it takes “enthusiasm, school spirit, personality, agility.” (Which of these is unlike the others?)  The prospective tiger must be thick-skinned, able to handle teasing from the opposition. He or she must also assume the sacred vow of mascot silence. He or she must also not do this.

Jurgens speaks from experience. He donned the stripes this time last year, at the first round of the women’s tournament vs. St. John’s. That game took place at Florida State University in Tallahassee, and although this year’s location has yet to be determined, that might be a significant factor in the mascot’s general happiness/dampness: he noted that the suit takes a little getting used to, because it’s old and can get hot. He was sure to emphasize the perks, though: the mascot gets to tag along for huge games, like this tournament, or when’s men’s lax faced Syracuse at Giants Stadium a few seasons ago (see photographic evidence at right). All enthusiastic/social/agile students looking to complete their Tiger/tiger metamorphosis are encouraged to contact Scott at the above email address.

(Lauren Zumbach ‘13 contributed reporting)

As he filled out his b(a)racket for the Women’s NCAA Tournament this year, he had our Tigers going down in the first round. If you’re really “surrounded by these Princeton Tigers” like you say you are, I suggest that they pounce. We think our women’s basketball team — making their first ever appearance at the Big Dance — will prove him wrong on Saturday.

The Tigers are going to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. The team boasts a 25-2 overall record and chalked up a perfect 13-0 record in the Ivy League. Oh, and they haven’t lost in 20 games. Talk about a streak.

You can still catch the team serving it up this Tuesday when the Tigers face Penn at Jadwin @ 5 p.m. If they win (which seems to be the trend) the ladies will complete the first perfect Ivy League season since Harvard’s in 2002-03.

(image and statistics courtesy of goprincetontigers.com)