I have a hangover. A KU basketball hangover.

For much of March I was drunk off of the high expectations this team had in the tournament. Instead of tequila shots and cosmos it was Marcus dunks and Morningstar three-pointers that gave me that heady, carefree feeling.

Well, now it’s the morning after and I’m left curled up in the bathroom making promises to myself. Yet instead of swearing never to touch a drop of alcohol again, I swear never to let the pre-tournament hype have me envisioning Kansas’ unavoidable trip to the national championship.

I should have known better. I was late to the party in 2008 so now every year is like going to another party that’s just not as good. My freshman year it was Michigan State that cut Kansas short, then last year it was Northern Iowa, and this year VCU. I want to be part of the crazed wave of students taking over Massachusetts Street. I want the parade, the day off of class and the t-shirt that says “national champions.”

Honestly, I came into this year thinking the party wasn’t going to be that great. I still had pretty high expectations, but we lost three key players to the NBA and I wasn’t sure who was going to replace them.

Well, Bill Self proved why he is arguably one of the best coaches in the country. He took a team that wasn’t supposed to even win the Big 12 and turned it into a national championship contender. The Morris twins started playing the best basketball of their lives, Morningstar and Reed were always there to give Kansas a big three-point play (well, unless they were playing VCU) and Kansas went through the whole regular season only losing two games. That is pretty impressive. Self turned a scholarship hall party into Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but as I learned, the bigger the party, the bigger the headache the next morning.

And now, this weekend I have to watch four other teams compete for their chance to win the title we were favored for. I know that’s the excitement of March Madness, but I will still miss seeing the red and blue in the crowds and Markieff Morris hit the last three that wraps up the game.

I know that eventually I’ll feel better, but right now, all I really want to do is lie in bed with a big cup of coffee and wonder why I let myself get my hopes up again.

— Edited by Helen Mubarak