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March Madness Moments That Broke Social Media
When Basketball Meets Viral Fame
Technology and Talent Combines
March Madness history will be made again this year, but those memories are yet to be made. But what we want to focus on are the tournament moments that created social media history and live in our hearts, as well as the internet, forever.
When Basketball Meets Viral Fame
Social media and March Madness were meant to be together. The tournament has provided countless moments of euphoria and heartbreak along with thousands of March Madness memes that capture fans, players, and coaches in the heat of the moment.
To provide context for just how popular this event has become, consider the following:
- There will be 155 million total engagements during March Madness.
- The 2023 Tournament generated 16.3 million social comments.
- The March Madness championship game netted 3.5 million comments.
- Only 0.0396% of brackets remain perfect after day one.
From Heartbreak to Harvard
Let’s travel back to 2017 when a seventh-grade kid named John Phillips saw all his hopes and dreams come to a heartbreaking halt. His father was Northwestern’s athletic director at the time, which gave John opportunities that few other kids his age had.
The ‘Crying Northwestern Kid’ John Phillips has come a long way since his viral moment in 2017 😂 pic.twitter.com/1vPHaP4TrT
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 21, 2024
“This team in particular, I had traveled with them, I had eaten with them, and I had played with them a little bit as a young 7th grader,” Phillips said.
Northwestern, a Cinderella story, tipped off against No. 1 Gonzaga in the second round and cut the lead to five points in the closing minutes of the game. There would be no Hollywood ending as the Wildcats were bounced, 79-73, and Gonzaga would advance all the way to the championship game, only to lose to North Carolina.
But the cameras captured Phillips’ journey throughout the game, and he became a viral sensation, known as the “Crying Northwestern Kid.”
“People had started texting me, and at first a lot of friends, a lot of my close friends, had texted me like, ‘Hey, stay off social media,‘” Phillips said.
He initially took their advice but decided to embrace his newfound celebrity. He was even in a Pizza Hut ad in 2019, and his family decided to use any money generated by his image as fundraising opportunities for charitable causes.
“Instead of getting compensated for it, we would help to donate money to some charitable organizations, some literacy programs in Chicago,” he said.
#Northwestern in #oneshiningmoment (Doug Collins, Gavin Skelly, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Crying Northwestern Kid).@NUMensBball @NU_Sports pic.twitter.com/foPoqHCvZn
— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) April 4, 2017
John Phillips is now a freshman at Harvard, but that seventh-grade kid belongs to social media.
Underdogs Break the Internet
It wasn’t until March 16, 2018, that a No. 16 seed accomplished the unthinkable, an upset over a No. 1 seed. The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) Retrievers became the first 16-seed to upset a 1-seed when they not only defeated No. 1 Virginia but blew the doors off the Cavaliers, 74–54, in the first round.
Five years later, lightning struck twice as No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson Knights shocked No. 1 Purdue, becoming only the second 16th seed in tournament history to do so.
The Ivy League kids from No. 15 Princeton added even more March Madness highlights that same year when they stunned No. 2 Arizona, 59-55, marking the third consecutive Big Dance when a 15th seed upset a 2nd seed.
Also in 2023, No. 16 Northern Kentucky nearly entered the 16-seed victory club but ultimately fell to No. 1 Houston, prompting the Norse bandleader to play “My Own Worst Enemy.”
When Social Media Crowned New Champions
In 2022, the Kansas Jayhawks defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels, 72-69, prompting former NBA player Kendrick Perkins to post on social media:
“Let’s not start that UNC gave the game away mess… Kansas went and got that game! They went got that one out the MUD. Carry the hell on…”
April 4, 2022: After trailing by 15 at halftime, the Kansas Jayhawks rally to beat North Carolina 72-69 for the NCAA men’s basketball championship. David McCormack and Jalen Wilson scored 15 pts each for the Jayhawks. Christian Braun, a Blue Valley NW product, added 12 points. pic.twitter.com/ph6FNiXUxr
— Kansas Sports Chronicles (@ks_chronicles) April 4, 2024
Last year, UConn coach Dan Hurley was the toast of Storrs after his Huskies defeated Purdue in the national championship game.
Charlotte Wilder posted on X: “Dan Hurley is a maniac and I dig it.”
Another poster was not such a big fan and wrote: “Why do y’all New Englanders love you’re *sshole coaches more than anything else? The only market where being a sociopath is a huge plus.”
One other picked up Hurley’s propensity to blow a gasket or two on the sidelines by writing:
“Dan Hurley looks like melting cartoon ice cream when he is complaining from the bench”
