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  "path": "/can-i-interest-you-in-a-billiken",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-16T15:28:15.000Z",
  "site": "https://defector.com",
  "tags": [
    "College Basketball",
    "Death To The NCAA",
    "2026 ncaa tournament",
    "march madness",
    "robbie avila",
    "Saint Louis Billikens"
  ],
  "textContent": "March Madness means it's time to get invested in random schools from places you've never been, and after the bracket reveals on Sunday, I'd like to offer a potential rooting interest: the Saint Louis Billikens men's team. Based indeed in Missouri and not some off-brand St. Louis (à la Oakland University), you may faintly recall the Billikens for their quirky mascot and their three straight first-round tournament wins in the 2010s. This is their first appearance since a loss as a 13 seed in 2019, however, so please allow me to acquaint you with this squad and give you five reasons to care about them.\n\n**Reason No. 1: The Billikens just played two very exciting games**.\n\nLook, I'm not going to pretend I was living and dying with Saint Louis basketball this year, but I _did_ tune in for their pair of games in the Atlantic 10 tournament, and I liked what I saw. Saint Louis entered the week as the top seed, but they were sliding in sideways. They started the year 24-1, with the lone loss coming by one point to Stanford, but they went just 3-3 in their last six, with their final regular-season game a brutal 29-point blowout by George Mason.",
  "title": "Can I Interest You In A Billiken?"
}