When they barge back into the teeth of March Madness, for Operation Takeover Dayton, they would have been wearing a chip the size of the Empire State Building on their MAAC shoulders anyway. The Other New York Team at The Dance, Manhattan College on the front of their jerseys, Meanhattan College once the game begins.
But NOW?
NOW, after learning seconds after the start of the Selection Show that they would be relegated to a play-in game Tuesday night in the Midwest Region against the 16-17 Hampton Pirates of the MEAC … for the right to be chewed up and spit out Thursday — in LOUISVILLE — by John Calipari's 34-0 Kentucky meat grinder?
This is what they get for beating Iona in the MAAC Championship game?
Masiello slumped in his front-row seat against a green T-shirt with the words 'Dancing Back to Back' draped over it, and his head dropped. If you were looking for the obligatory shot of an underdog team rising to its feet and cheering, you didn't find it inside Café 1853 on the second floor of Thomas Hall.
They sat in their chairs in stunned silence until the Selection Show ended.
The cheerleaders stood behind them in stunned silence.
March Badness.
After all the career-quaking controversy over him needing to take an online course to graduate from — Kentucky!, where he made the team as a walk-on — before returning to Manhattan College, the NCAA Selection Committee gave Masiello the third degree.
But when he met the media, the last thing he wanted anyone to think was that he was bringing Moanhattan College back to the cherished March Madness Dance floor.
"We have a job to do," Masiello said, "and all we need to worry about is Hampton. Don't get involved in anything else. Don't get distracted by anything else. Your focus for the next 48 hours is Hampton. Whether we're a 2-seed a 1-seed a 90-seed, an 18-seed — there's 68 teams playing in a tournament. We have a job to do, we have to go do it now."
As Meanhattan.
"All I can do is hopefully go on the court, and hopefully we can show how we feel on the court," Masiello told The Post. "And I say that because my opinion means nothing, what I think. I'm not in the committee room. Their opinion's what matters. Whether I disagree with their opinion or I agree with their opinion, it really doesn't do any good."
But understand this about Masiello, a child of White Plains: if he and his players order their steaks medium-well and they are served medium, they take it personally.
The steak they were served Sunday night was raw.
The Jaspers are leaving early Monday for Operation Takeover Dayton.
Hampton is now their NCAA Championship game.
The bogeyman man — Calipari's Big Blue Machine — is not a consideration.
"We're going to be obsessed with Hampton," Masiello said. "If we're fortunate enough to get to that point, we'll worry about whatever problems come them. For right now, we have a 48-hour mission, that's it."
Edward Joyner Jr. is the Hampton coach. His mantra is DTP: Discipline, Toughness, Passion.
Someone named John Calipari, the nemesis of Masiello's mentor Rick Pitino, is the Kentucky coach. I had asked Masiello, who studies great coaches in all sports, about Calipari last week. What has he learned from him?
"Coach your team," Masiello said. "Coach your team: 'Well, my parking spot isn't …' Coach your team."
I told Masiello that Bill Parcells used to say that all the time.
"What I got from Parcells is there's five things that are going to happen to you every day that you're not ready for," Masiello said. "How you handle them will determine your success, and it is SO true."
Selection Sunday was all five rolled into one. Manhattan College should feel fortunate Masiello is its coach for this moment.
"I love having him as a coach, he brings the best out of you," forward Ashton Pankey said, "and especially in moments like this. We've been overlooked all season, and he helped us to be resilient, and he helped us to fight through those tough times."
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