My 5 best sports atmospheres

With the brackets releasing yesterday, nothing but college basketball has been on my mind for well over 24 hours.

This included my irrational attempt of planning a trip for me and my dad, who played basketball in college, to St. Louis to see the Midwest Regional game. I thought I had an edge because there was a good chance my dad's favorite team, the North Carolina Tarheels, would be there, but it's looking like a no-go.

Then I thought about how cool it would be to go to what may be my favorite non-Texas city in the US, New Orleans, to see the National Championship game.

After very quickly realizing that wasn't going to happen either, I began to think about where that might rank on my list of best atmospheres I've been in at a sporting event, which quickly made me realize I didn't have a list.

So here it is, the impromptu list of the 5 best sports atmospheres I've ever been in:

No. 5: Kansas State vs. Oklahoma State football
Regardless of it being ranked at No. 5, this was probably the best football GAME I had ever seen. It was incredible. Back-and-forth scoring and it eventually came down to the wire. This was the first game that came down to the last second for the 2011 team, and it was an absolutely nuts atmosphere. Usually, Boone Pickens Stadium starts emptying out when the game is well in hand, but no one left the stadium until well after the game. That's probably also the loudest that stadium has ever been, especially when the game ended on an incomplete pass in the endzone. It unofficially caused an earthquake that scared the mess out of Kirk Herbstreit.

No. 4: Dallas Mavericks vs. Miami Heat NBA Finals Watch Party
The Mavs were down 1-0 in the series and had one more game before they would head back to Dallas for three home games. Dirk vs. LeBron, Jason Terry vs. Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh vs. Tyson Chandler, it was an absolutely incredible series. This game was even better. We rode the train to the stadium, which was packed with Mavs fans, and got into a sold-out American Airlines Center to watch the game on the big screen. The fans lived and died with every call, and erupted when the Mavs pulled off the win. They finally would win the series in 6 games, and I found myself celebrating in Downtown Dallas with the rest of the fans from everywhere in the metroplex.

No. 3: Oklahoma State vs. Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse
Oklahoma State headed to Lawrence, KS as a 12-12 team. Kansas was ranked in the Top 5 in the nation. I was used to the Gallagher-Iba crowds that would fill the building up about halfway and would never really get into the game. This wasn't the case at Allen Fieldhouse. The student sections were full with thirty minutes left before tipoff, and it's the first sold-out basketball game I had ever been to. Even better, I sat courtside at the media table while I got text messages from tons of people saying "You're so lucky, I've been trying to get a ticket to a game there for years." Needless to say, I'll be making that drive again next year.

No. 2: Bedlam football- Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State, 2011
With the Big 12 Championship on the line, the Sooners rode north to Stillwater to face off against the Pokes. Boone Pickens Stadium was packed, and 98% full, and the crowd was electric. The game got out of hand quickly and the Cowboys ended up winning the game 44-10 with OU's lone touchdown coming off of a scramble from their backup quarterback. I was in the press box for this game, and ended up watching most of the action from the roof of the stadium. I had to hear the crowd and the hits of the pads, watching from behind soundproof glass wasn't doing it for me. Finally, the game ended and the crowd, as expected, poured onto the field. Two goalposts were ripped up from their cement homes in the Lewis Field turf during the process, and the crowd poured into the streets to celebrate. I met up with my friends by the bars and took in as much of the chaos that I could. It was as if a war had just been one or an evil dictator had been overthrown. It was madness. I loved it.

No. 1: 2010 ALCS, Game 2- New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers
Without a doubt the best atmosphere I had ever been in. My beloved Rangers, also my favorite overall team of any sport both amateur and professional, were facing off against the Yanks in the ALCS. I had been through twenty years of watching the Rangers be the joke of the MLB. I had seen greats like Nolan Ryan, Pudge Rodriguez & Juan Gonzalez (my favorite players growing up), Rusty Greer and Alex Rodriguez (Ugh) come through the stadium without ever winning a single playoff game at home. I was a freshman at the time, and my mom called saying she had somehow gotten four tickets to Game 2 on Saturday, and was seeing if I could come home. "Uhhh... Yeah, I'll be there. Duh." The Rangers lost the first game on Friday night after blowing a 5-0 lead. The stars were aligning. We tailgated outside on Saturday, and eventually made our way to our seats. Rally towels waved and the crowd roared every time a pitch was thrown. I don't think I sat down at any point during the game. The Rangers eventually won their first ever home playoff game that day, and it took us over an hour to get out of the stadium because of the celebration going on everywhere. "Yankees Suck" chants countered the "Lets Go Rangers" screams with high-fives being thrown in every direction. My adrenal gland probably would've filed for a divorce from my body if it could because it pumped for about five hours straight. Even with the four other games below this, none of them were even close to this game. This was probably the best day of my life.