UMBC Athletics had a historic run in the spring of 2018.
You probably remember the school became the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 that year, with a 74-54 win over Virginia.
Even after the college basketball season ended, UMBC wasn’t done making headlines. The Retrievers upset No. 1 Albany in lacrosse weeks later that April.
UMBC doesn’t have football team. But feeling on top of the world at the time, the school playfully reached out to then defending national champion Alabama football on X, you know, just to say hi. Here’s that post to Alabama in 2018:
It was UMBC’s playful “We want Bama” moment.
Fast forward eight years, and UMBC basketball is back in the Big Dance. The Retrievers knocked off Vermont 74-59 in the America East Tournament Championship on Saturday to secure the bid.
The UMBC X account grew nearly as famous as the basketball team in 2018, with a series of playful, sarcastic and even trolling posts. The account jumped right back into the mix Saturday after securing its automatic NCAA spot.
The first post was directed towards analyst Seth Davis, who guaranteed a Virginia win when it took a 2-0 lead over UMBC in 2018.
“GUESS WHO’S BACK YALL?” the UMBC Athletics X account wrote Saturday. “DONT even think about it @SethDavisHoops”
A North Carolina TV sports director named Chris Womack responded to that post, imploring the account to once again engage the Alabama football account.
But things have changed dramatically in college football over the last six years. And the UMBC Athletics account had other ideas after watching Indiana dismantle the Crimson Tide 38-3 at the Rose Bowl.
We would want to challenge a relevant winning program, so we will challenge @IndianaFootball https://t.co/OSu9kDsOSx
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 14, 2026
The NCAA Tournament Committee has been known on occasion to create intriguing matchups. And now the college sports world waits to see if Alabama and UMBC get paired up in March Madness. UMBC vs. Virginia would be fun too, not only for the rematch, but also because Virginia coach Ryan Odom was the UMBC coach in 2018.
