The 11-seed Dayton Flyers kept the party going last night with an 82-72 Sweet 16 victory over the No. 10 Stanford Cardinal. While both teams were enjoying Cinderella status, only one of them could continue to the big dance (*bicycle horn*) and that team featured the lovable scamps from Ohio. In fact, the Flyers have been the most Tweeted about team during the 2014 NCAA Tournament, which is pretty cool, I guess, but it’s about a billion times less cool than, say, making it to the Elite Eight for the first time in 30 years with a team that almost everyone had written off in the first round.
Once the celebration on the court and in the locker room ended, the question became: What did the Flyers fans back in Dayton learn from their last massive party? The answer is apparently not much. With school president Daniel Curran visiting China, students and fans hit the streets for the mother of all celebrations last night, but the police still had things covered. According to the Dayton Daily Journal, 28 people were arrested during last night’s party.
After hundreds of students showed up at UD Arena to watch the Flyers beat Stanford on big screens, thousands thronged the streets around campus to celebrate the team’s first NCAA Elite Eight appearance in three decades.
Police said some bottles and cans were thrown at police in riot gear trying to disperse the dancing and screaming crowds. Dayton police reported 28 arrests on campus.
The Dayton Daily News reports that emergency crews responded to a roof collapse on a porch near campus, but there were no details about injuries.
From the Dayton Daily News, the party was underway as soon as the final buzzer rang out.
Now here’s a firsthand account of the students in what they refer to as Dayton’s ghetto (haha, college kids and their ignorant misuse of words!):
Here’s a little better look at that incredible crowd. Maybe I’m just old and hate crowds way too much, but I do not see what is fun about this:
Of course, it wouldn’t be a good story for the local news if they didn’t scare people by using a word like “riot.” Here’s a mashup of reports that starts with the R word and then just shows a bunch of elated, hammered college bros and babes ready to partaaaaaaaaaay. Although, the reporter at the 1:30 mark claims to have been hit in the face by a beer, and it’s safe to say she’s auditioning for war coverage.
Dayton fans better have enjoyed the fun, because their team has the No. 1 Florida Gators on Saturday, and it’s going to take everything the Flyers have to keep the party going. Right, Pitbull?
