Chapter 8: Rivals Are Also Enemies.
Hansen let out a bitter smile.
To ensure wildcard teams are selected more fairly and objectively, the NCAA releases a ranking called the AP (Associated Press) polls every season.
The poll's origins go back to the 1930s. The news media began running their own polls of sports writers to determine, by popular opinion, the best college teams in the country.
This poll ranks teams based on their strength and is updated weekly. The first issue combines the teams' performance from last season and their current roster, while subsequent rankings reflect how the teams performed over the week.
The North Carolina team that Hansen mentioned has been at the top of the poll since the start of the season. After more than half a month, they still hold the number one spot.
In fact, North Carolina dominated the rankings all of last season, only to unexpectedly lose to Kansas in the Final Four.
This season, North Carolina's key players all stayed, and it's the senior year of their star player, Tyler Hansbrough. It's their last chance to chase the championship.
This was why Hansen brought up North Carolina. In terms of both strength and morale, they are comparable to the 1998 Chicago Bulls.
In Hansen's memory, North Carolina ended up winning the championship that year, creating a great story.
If he were up against them, some pre-game trash talk would definitely attract plenty of haters.
"Why do you seem almost disappointed?" Theus noticed Hansen's mood.
"No, it's just that this is pretty bad news."
Although Michigan State isn't as strong as North Carolina, they've been ranked in the top six since the season started and recently broke into the top five.
Barry University has no chance against North Carolina, and they also have no chance against Michigan State.
"Just focus on performing well, don't put too much pressure on yourself." Theus patted his shoulder in comfort.
Hansen nodded with a relaxed expression.
Pressure? There's no pressure at all. How could there be pressure in a game you have no chance of winning?
The key was how to gain more hater points.
Actually, Michigan State's lack of a top-tier perimeter defender could be an opportunity for him to shine.
"Oh, by the way, I invited a friend to come watch the game. He's an ESPN reporter." Theus initially didn't want to tell Hansen, worrying he'd feel too much pressure, but seeing how relaxed Hansen was, he realized his concern was unnecessary.
"Coach, I love you!" He was now so now excited, that he gave Theus a big hug.
He'd just gained a lot of hater points from Barkley's show, and now Theus was bringing him another media figure. How could he not be excited?
"Even though he's not a scout, if you perform well, I believe the NBA will take notice," Theus said, pushing him away.
Hansen nodded vigorously.
From both the hater points and exposure perspectives, this was a game he absolutely had to play well in.
After the team's practice ended, Hansen planned to stay at the gym and continue working on his passing, something he'd been doing since the season opener.
Being recognized as the team's core player was a good thing, but it also meant he was getting double-teamed more often during games.
However, what surprised him today was that he wasn't the only one staying behind.
Rondo, O'Neal, and the others were all planning to stay and practice more.
"What are you guys doing?" Hansen was a little unaccustomed to this.
"We can't afford to lose too badly, can we?" Rondo said with a smile.
Hansen was somewhat moved by this.
Could extra practice close the talent gap between Barry University and Michigan State University?
The answer was clearly no.
Talent is an insurmountable chasm, not to mention the gap in tactics and skills.
Rondo and the others probably knew this too.
But what was different now was their attitude.
Compared to the start of the season, they had developed something called a [desire to win].
It definitely didn't happen overnight, but was slowly cultivated over the course of several games.
This was obviously a good thing.
Because if they were to lose by a large margin, no matter how good his stats looked, it wouldn't mean much in the eyes of the ESPN reporter.
But if they could play a competitive game, it would leave a different impression altogether.
After finishing his extra practice and taking a shower back at the dorm, Hansen took out his phone to browse Facebook.
The heat in his comment section had already died down.
Such is the information age- things change quickly, and no one stays interested in discussing the same topic for long.
He carefully scrolled through the new comments, looking for anything he could use to reignite some attention.
Soon, he found something quite special.
"We're about to catch some rats!"
In a comment section full of haters, this comment wasn't that remarkable. What made it special was the person who posted it- they had done so using their main account.
Draymond Green.
When Hansen saw that name, his brow furrowed slightly.
Of course, he knew who Draymond Green was- the small ball era's answer at center, the cornerstone of the Warriors' Death Lineup, a maestro at passing the ball and defensive play...
But even more famously, he was known as the "Nutcracker," the creator of the "Green Formula," and the first to cling to Curry's coattails.
That, of course, was the NBA version of Draymond Green.
In the NCAA, Green was just a four-star recruit from the 2008 class, ranked 95th.
His ranking was lower than "Hansen's" had been, but his luck- or you could say his choice of school- had been better than "Hansen's". He had playing time at Michigan State.
However, as a rookie, even if he could get on the court, his minutes were limited, and he was someone you wouldn't pay much attention to.
When Hansen entered Green's personal page, he saw that Green didn't have many followers, though the number was steadily growing.
Besides that comment, Hansen also saw other posts from Green.
"I played against Davidson College. Stephen Curry is the best shooter in the NCAA. This guy isn't even worth his little finger."
Wow, Hansen thought. I didn't expect Green to be praising Curry even back in his NCAA days!
Hansen continued to read.
"The assumption he made is nonsense. Davidson College would never take someone like him."
"Don't worry, we're about to face him, and I'll teach this trash-talking guy a lesson on behalf of Stephen."
Seeing all this, he furrowed his brow even more.
These comments were clearly biased, and Curry's fans would definitely be drawn to them.
Hansen had previously known nothing about Draymond Green in his NCAA days.
Now it seemed he had met his match.
...
Time flew by, and before he knew it, it was December 6th.
After a long and exhausting journey, the players of Barry University arrived in East Lansing, Michigan.
They would face Michigan State University the next night, at the Breslin Student Events Center.
But as soon as they arrived, they encountered a problem.
Due to repairs from a water leak, the main court wouldn't be available until the next day. Michigan State's team needed to use the practice gym, leaving no training space for Barry University.
If they wanted to practice, they'd have to find a gym elsewhere on their own.
This drew complaints from the players, and Hansen frowned as well.
It wasn't about the practice space for him; the real issue was that without a practice court, the pre-game press conference was also canceled.
That cost him an important opportunity to earn hater points.
However, it wasn't all bad news.
On the way back to the hotel, Theus shared some information.
Two days ago, Michigan State had hosted North Carolina in an invitational game, losing 63-98.
Their morale was at rock bottom.
...
The evening of December 7th, at the Breslin Student Events Center.
The arena, which could seat more than six thousand, was only about half full.
It wasn't that the big loss to North Carolina mattered; the real issue was that fans couldn't get excited about a game against a Division II team.
It wasn't just the fans who felt this way- some of Michigan State's players did too.
The team's star player, Kalin Lucas, only warmed up briefly before sitting on the sidelines to rest.
Soon after, starting center Goran Suton also sat down.
Standing at 2.11 meters and weighing 115 kilograms, Suton's size made him a towering presence in the NCAA.
"Kalin, why did the coach schedule a game against a Division II team?" Suton complained after sitting down.
Lucas glanced at the Barry University players warming up on the other side and shook his head helplessly. "Probably because we couldn't find any other teams on short notice."
"Still, it shouldn't have been a Division II team. We might as well have an intra-squad scrimmage," Suton said, exasperated.
"Just think of it as a warm-up," Lucas said, turning his attention back to the North Carolina game.
Losing to North Carolina wasn't a big deal, but the psychological shadow of such a large margin of defeat wasn't easy to shake off.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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