Aside from reality show winners and one-hit wonders, nothing is forgotten quite as quickly as Championship Fortnight when the NCAA Tournament brackets are released. Some of the teams we've been following all season are destined for great and lasting glory, which will be fulfilled and certified once the inevitable paring down of the contenders begins. But for many of the title-winners below the Red Line who now inhabit the lower half of the field of 65, their most recent victories will be their final wins of the season. The looming heartbreak will be devastating, and the euphoria of the last two weeks will seem decades removed.
But the scenes of happiness captured in the images below serve as proof that underneath the chest of every low-seed loser is a true champion's heart. Never forget that these are all winners, and that they've come a long way to get past the gate of Selection Sunday. We certainly won't forget.
Akron (Mid-American)
Alabama State (SWAC)
American (Patriot League)
Binghamton (America East)
Cal State Northridge (Big West)
Chattanooga (Southern)
Cleveland State (Horizon League)
Cornell (Ivy League)
East Tennessee State (Atlantic Sun)
Morehead State (Ohio Valley)
Morgan State (MEAC)
North Dakota State (Badlands)
Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley)
Portland State (Big Sky)
Radford (Big South)
Robert Morris (Northeast)
Siena (Metro Atlantic)
Stephen F. Austin (Southland)
Temple (Atlantic 14)
Utah State (Western Athletic)
Virginia Commonwealth (Colonial)
Western Kentucky (Sun Belt)
