Submitted by Ben Higgins, 10News Sports Anchor 

Like so many of us, it seems like I’ve been sick all winter. Sore throat, runny nose, cough…and then it starts all over again. But there’s one disease I don’t mind catching this time of year…March Madness. And thanks to the USD Toreros, there could be an epidemic running through the city over the next couple of weeks.

College basketball has been on the rise in our community for the last 6 or 7 years, but it’s even better when one of your teams makes an unexpected run to the NCAA Tournament, which is exactly what the University of San Diego did. Stunning wins over West Coast Conference powers St. Mary’s and Gonzaga on back-to-back nights (including Sunday’s come-from-behind thriller over the Gaels) means USD knows its name will get called on Selection Sunday. The Toreros will face an even tougher test once the “Big Dance” begins. ESPN’s “expert” says USD will be a #15 seed and play a team like Kansas in the 1st round. I don’t think that’s giving the Toreros enough credit. After all, they beat Kentucky on the road in December, topped Gonzaga on Monday, and beat a very good St. Mary’s team twice. I’d like to see USD get a 13-seed. Still a tough task, but there’s at least a chance for an upset.

My last trip to the NCAA Tournament came a couple of years ago when the Aztecs took on Indiana in a 1st round game in Salt Lake City. You probably remember it well—San Diego State has the Hoosiers beat with less than two minutes to go, and they let the game slip away. I was already gearing up for 2 more days in snowy Utah and a winnable second-round game against Gonzaga. That was a tough day for fans of the Red and Black. Who knows…maybe the Aztecs will make a run in the Mountain West Tournament and join the Toreros in this year’s tourney. If that happens, watch out—we might have to quarantine the whole city because of a rampant outbreak of March Madness.

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