Samford’s NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday celebration closes down the town

The Samford Bulldogs have only made the NCAA Tournament twice and not since 2000, so when head coach Bucky McMillan rode his “Buckyball” style of play to the No. 1 seed in the Southern Conference and won the SoCon Tournament to lock up a bid, Selection Sunday became a big occasion in Edgewood Alabama. So big, that the entire town closed the streets to celebrate their Bulldogs. 

Then, the CBS broadcast announced that Samford would be the No. 13 seed in the Midwest Region and most of the country got its first look at what could be a Cinderella team in March. The Bulldogs went 29-5 in the regular season and forced the sixth-most turnover per game in the nation at 16.5 with their up-tempo full-court pressure defense.

Samford’s celebration was one of the very best featured on the broadcast and so is the draw for the Bulldogs who get a very banged-up Kansas team. The Jayhawks were knocked out in their first game of the Big 12 Tournament, playing without leading scorers Kevin McCullar Jr. and Hunter Dickinson. Both are expected to play in the Round of 64 in Salt Lake City, but that isn’t stopping CBS’s Seth Davis from picking the Bulldogs. He likely won't be the only one with this upset in his bracket.

If Edgewood closed down to celebrate a Selection Sunday announcement, then I can’t wait to see what the town and the team will have in store if they can pull off the upset against one of the Blue Bloods of college basketball.