Here comes 2024 in college basketball, and imagine the possibilities. Droughts could end, frustrations eased, Cinderella stories continued, landmark feats achieved.
Or not. Each of the above is reasonably possible in 2024, but a little luck always helps. So just in time for New Year’s Eve, a collection of global traditions designed to bring good fortune, and teams with sound cause to think about trying them:
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In the Philippines, they open the doors and windows to blow out the bad karma and bring in the good. Well, Purdue Boilermakers, you want to start with the upstairs windows or the down? Something has to air out the gas fumes from all those recent March flops. The Boilermakers are 37-2 against non-conference opponents in the past four regular seasons, including wins over teams ranked Nos. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 11 . . . but 2-3 in the NCAA tournaments with baffling and maddening exits against 13, 15 and 16 seeds, each loss with growing infamy.
Which is why — current No. 1 ranking or not, Zach Edey numbers or not, five Quad 1 wins already or not — no program in America needs a March run to shine up its legacy in 2024 more than Purdue. The 44 years since its last Final Four, the arena without a national championship banner — while down the road rival Indiana has five — are all in play. Maybe opening windows have been what’s missing.
In the American South, many wouldn’t dream of New Year’s without eating collard greens and black-eyed peas, purportedly to assure success for the future. So how about a big plate for the Houston Cougars?
They’ve tried about everything else to get that first national championship. That includes trips to six Final Fours, more than any program in the nation without a title. The current Cougars are unbeaten with the most vaunted defense in the land, having held opponents under 20 points in a half eight times this season. “Your defense can be there every night,” coach Kelvin Sampson said the other day. Maybe 2024 is the breakthrough year. Seconds on peas, anyone?
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In Spain, they eat 12 grapes at midnight to get the new year started right. It’ll be good for the Kansas Jayhawks if Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr. and the guys all like the fruit. The Jayhawks are going to need every positive vibe they can get to keep their customary high place in a brutal Big 12 and maintain one of the sport’s most remarkable trends — Bill Self owning only one more home loss in 21 years (17) that conference season titles (16). And should they roll into March and April and win the national championship, then 2024 will be the year Self moves into a really ritzy coaching neighborhood. That would give him three titles, putting him on the same exclusive block as Jim Calhoun, Bob Knight and Roy Williams.
In Brazil, they wear white on New Year’s Eve for good luck, so break out the home white unis for the Arizona Wildcats. Then maybe they too can hit it big in 2024, which could mean a first Final Four in 23 years — this one played outside Phoenix, by the way — and even a title to go with the one from 1997. Consider the irony, if Arizona can give the Pac-12 a farewell gift of the league's first national championship in 27 years, and then the conference as we know it goes out of business.
In Denmark, they smash plates and glasses on the front doors of neighbors and friends to ring in a new year. This apparently is meant to leave any leftover anger behind from the old year. Fire away, North Carolina Tar Heels. Is the bad taste gone yet from the historic nosedive in 2023 when the Tar Heels went from preseason No. 1 to not even making the tournament? Early signs are promising this year with an 8-3 record though a lot of marquee games so far — Villanova, Connecticut, Kentucky — have gone the other way. Maybe the answer is shattered dinnerware. And say, since the tradition calls for smashing the plates at neighbors, why not head down the road to Duke’s house?
In Greece, onions will hang on the door for New Year’s Eve, signaling rebirth. So is there time to get a bulb to every home in Big Blue Nation? When they talk rebirth in Kentucky, they mean getting back to normal in 2024, and the Wildcats storming through March with a bunch of future NBA draftees. The last Final Four was nine long years ago and Kentucky hasn’t seen the second week of the NCAA tournament since 2019. Not a state emergency, but close. Will 2024 mean a return to good times? The Wildcats show some metric strength; fourth in the nation in scoring, third in 3-point percentage and assist-turnover ratio. So maybe it was the lack of onions hanging on the door that led to losing at home to UNC Wilmington.
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In Italy, they put away a bowl of lentils shortly after midnight on Jan. 1, encouraging another prosperous year. Supposedly even the ancient Romans did it and look how long they stayed at the top of the polls. Which brings us to Connecticut perhaps considering lentils for the next pre-game meal. When it comes to good fortune and prosperity, boy, would the Huskies love for 2024 to match 2023.
The most impressive college basketball feat from the past year probably belongs to UConn, with its victory parade through the NCAA tournament, winning six games by 24, 15, 23, 28, 13 and 17 points and trailing for only 55 seconds in the second half. The current Huskies are 11-2 and have already beaten Gonzaga, Texas, North Carolina and played Kansas to the wire, though the multi-week loss of injured Donovan Clingan will hurt. If lentils can put them over the top in the end, 2024 would be history, with Connecticut the first repeat champion since Florida 17 years ago.
In Colombia, people walk around the block carrying empty suitcases on Dec. 31, intending to usher in a year of new travel and adventure. BYU and Tennessee, empty bags are waiting at the door. Know where their dream trip would be this year? Arizona. The Final Four. BYU has been in 30 NCAA tournaments, more than any other school that has never advanced to a Final Four. As for Tennessee, the Vols have played in 25 tournaments, same as Virginia and Gonzaga. But Virginia has been in seven Elite Eights, Gonzaga six. Tennessee only one, and never a Final Four. Maybe the Vols better walk around the block twice, to get someplace new in 2024.
In Ireland, they bang bread off the walls of their homes to chase away any bad tidings from last year. So get the Florida Atlantic Owls a few loaves. Then perhaps the shadows of that bayonet in the heart at the Final Four — — can be banged into oblivion.
Actually, Florida Atlantic has been doing pretty well building new memories, going two overtimes the other day to beat No. 4 Arizona, its first-ever win over a top-10 opponent. The current No. 7 standing in the Associated Press poll is its highest ever and center Vladislav Goldin is leading the nation with 74.2 percent shooting. He has missed only 23 shots all season. Before last season, the Owls were 1-9 all-time against ranked opponents but are 5-2 since. In other words, it’s become clearer by the week that last March was no fluke. But some banging bread might not hurt.
Or if all else fails, there’s always the tradition long used in many cultures as the clock strikes midnight; just clang on pots or shoot off fireworks to make enough of a racket to scare away bad luck. They might try to be particularly loud at Detroit Mercy, Georgia Southern and Mississippi Valley State, the last three Division I teams still without a victory. The Detroit Pistons, 0-27 since late October, might consider some clatter, too.
