(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
It is March. Brackets will be Broken. Courts will be Stormed. Legends will be Made.
Saint Peter's University is a private jesuit university located in Jersey City, New Jersey. They play their home games at The Victor R. Yanitelli, S.J. Recreational Life Center. Prior to the 2022 NCAA Men's Tournament, Saint Peter's had made three prior tournament appearances in 2011, 1995, and 1991. They lost in the first round in each of those appearances. In the 2022 conference playoffs, they won the MAAC Championship over Monmouth.
The Saint Peter's Peacocks were placed in the NCAA Tournament as a 15 seed in the East Regional bracket. They were matched up with the number 2 seeded Kentucky Wildcats in what many thought would be an easy win for Kentucky. The Peacocks shocked the entire world by defeating #2 Kentucky by a score of 85-79. Only a whopping 1.53% of all brackets submitted had Saint Peter's beating Kentucky, according to the NCAA March Madness Facebook page. This win led to massive amounts of media coverage on the school from big name companies like ESPN to social media sites such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Saint Peter's then went onto the Round of 32, where they were matched up with #7 Murray State. In another shocking upset, Saint Peter's beat them by a score of 70-60. It was then after this win that fans began to notice that there was something special about these Saint Peter's Peacocks. Their final win of the tournament came against a nail-biter against the #3 Purdue Boilermakers with a score of 67-64. With this win, the Saint Peter's Peacocks were advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
The Saint Peter's Peacocks incredible cinderella story came to an end against the #8 North Carolina Tar Heels, with a score of 69-49.
The impact this run had on the school was truly impeccable. The exposure that their cinderella March Madness run had given them the opportunity to obtain a higher admissions rate as the cinderella run this team had may convince incoming freshman to attend Saint Peter's University. But overall, the University itself receiving more exposure via social media as well as news articles.
Heck of a run that will not be forgotten for quite some time.
Comments