While most of the sports media world may have been pulling for the Northwestern Wildcats, there was one vocal outlier in the industry pulling for the other team.
That person, of course, was Skip Bayless of FOX Sports 1.
A proud Vanderbilt alum, Bayless has been itching to get to this First Round matchup since the pairing was announced, and he called for a Vanderbilt victory right out of the gates in pure Skip fashion:
Vanderbilt drops anchor on Northwestern's fairy tale. Better school, better alumni, better ex-player coach, far better basketball tradition.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) March 12, 2017
For days, Skip likely pumped his chest out boasting about Vanderbilt while many sports media types with a Northwestern degree reveled in the moment their beloved Wildcats finally broke a long tournament drought.
With Skip jabbing Northwestern with a stick, it was the Wildcats who would get the last laugh. Northwestern edged Vanderbilt 68-66 in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday, thanks in large part to a boneheaded foul committed by Matthew Fisher-Davis of Vanderbilt immediately after giving his team the lead late in the game.
It was a heartbreaking way for Vanderbilt to lose, but Northwestern fans had waited long enough for this moment, and they were about to take it any way they could. Northwestern still had to convert on the free throws to keep the lead in the final seconds, so they still had to earn it to some degree. But after the game, Skip’s previous tweet would not be left forgotten by the Northwestern social media team:
We hear you, @Twitter. But not *everyone* in the media went to @NorthwesternU.#B1GCats | #PoundTheRock | #ItsTime https://t.co/hOR1GXAvOj
— Northwestern Athletics (@NU_Sports) March 16, 2017
Skip took the moment in stride:
So painfully ironic: A player from America's best school blew an NCAA win w an incomprehensible mental mistake: unnecessary intentional foul
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) March 16, 2017
Bayless did come through with some grace on Twitter and congratulated his Northwestern pals and foes in the business:
Congrats to my many friends from Northwestern. But I was extremely proud of the way my Vanderbilt Commodores fought back.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) March 16, 2017
Pardon the Interruption: Congrats, Michael Wilbon. Your Dererk Pardon was a difference-maker down the stretch.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) March 16, 2017
However, during the game, Skip was still pretty salty about the perceived bias in favor of Northwestern:
These announcers are so pro-Northwestern … but I get it.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) March 16, 2017
With Vanderbilt out, Skip should have plenty of time to work on his anti-LeBron James slants.
