Look, a No. 16 seed had never beaten a No. 1 seed since the NCAA tournament expanded in 1985. Everybody knows that.
That fact wasn't going to keep UMBC or its Twitter handle from having a good time Friday night.
Then, however, the Retrievers started winning -- correction, dominating -- their game against Virginia, the top overall seed. Let's just say, their Twitter handle handled things accordingly.
"As the game kept going on, I let my personality seep into it," UMBC director of multimedia communications Zach Seidel told ESPN. "I figured we'd get some followers, and it was good for the school."
Here's a look at how things unfolded:
Part I: Having fun and dealing with haters
Hi everyone, in case you didn't see, Seth Davis tweeted this one minute into the game pic.twitter.com/vDlrcOtJOn
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
It's ok, we sell whiteout ;)
— UMBC Bookstore (@umbcbookstore) March 17, 2018
Apparently @UMBCAthletics calls themselves #RetrieverNation. And they have 5588 followers.
— Gary (@GaryRTR) March 17, 2018
The dictionary defines: a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory......5K is a large amount, dude https://t.co/f0lmPFw64i
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
Wow, coming from a dude who doesn't care about what people say about his beard, that hurts https://t.co/rhwy9fKFym
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
@UMBCAthletics You are trending
— Ed Devine (@NotNedDevine) March 17, 2018
BRB callin my mama https://t.co/foAppBNVgm
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
Things got so exciting, we'll forgive the typo.
Applications at @UMBCAthletics are about to go up 400%
— Rob Beuerlein (@RobBeuerlein) March 17, 2018
WOOOO, NEW BULDINGS! https://t.co/lg6aAj7Cc6
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
Part II: Things get real
The game was tied at the half. As things progressed and UMBC kept hitting 3s and beating Virginia on the glass, it became clear that an upset was in the making.
Second Half about to start, no matter what happens we just want you all to remember......we are conveniently located just outside of Baltimore and have stellar academics
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
Hi @AaronRodgers12 your biggest fan Joe Sherburne just hit an and-1 and a 3 to put us, a 16 seed, up 6
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
LET'S GO GOOD BOYS (clap clap clap-clap-clap)
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger_sherman) March 17, 2018
-Me cheering for the UMBC Retrievers
We'll take it https://t.co/kmHM5DVxOp
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
We're just a 16 seed, happy to be here, also we're up 35-24 on No.1 Virginia with Jairus going to the line to shoot 3 ft with 15:52 left
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
It's v v loud in here, either cuz they just restocked the hot dogs or because we are up 45-29 with 11:39 to go
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
C'MON GUYS, you crashed our dang website, our IT people wanna watch the game too, please form an orderly line
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
Part III: The unthinkable is really happening
The clock is rolling. The Retrievers can feel it. Clips of this game will live on as long as 16 seeds face No. 1s. And UMBC was just trying to keep its cool ... talking hot dogs.
We're up 12 on Virginia with 4:07 left, but more importantly we heard their may be some cookies left in the media dining area, will report back soon
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
We're up 17 with 3:29 to go thanks to a Lamar three, BUT the media dining is out of cookies and this is the worst day ever
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
HEAVY BREATHING
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
PUT SOME RESPECK ON IT! WE HAVE DEFEATED NO.1 OVERALL SEED VIRGINIA 74-54
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
Part IV: Let's celebrate and handle some more haters
ADVANCE THE BRACKET pic.twitter.com/v7GhTZMDWy
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
Sup, @ESPN pic.twitter.com/ISHem7E57R
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
"My TweetDeck broke, like, eight times," Seidel said. "I had to recharge my phone right before the end. But I wanted to have fun with the moment and have people realize we're a fun school."
Indeed.
