Only one team gets to end the season without some regret, so in keeping with “la familia,” lets all say what we’re thankful for before we carve the bird.

Thank you for keeping me up until 4:00 p.m. the next day writing and putting together a basketball preview just so I can feel like I contributed in some small meaningless way.

Thank you for beating, building and being a No. 1 team.

Thank you for staying for a senior season.

Thank you to Jason Fraser for strapping on his sneakers one last time and hitting the deck for a loose ball, not knowing if he’ll be able to walk without a limp in the future. (Jeremy Finn ’04)

Thank you for teaching yourself to block shots, because Jay Wright doesn’t know the meaning of the word rejection.

Thank you for balancing an Ivy League education with a Big East game schedule.

Thanks for being the best player on the best team in the best conference in the nation.

Thanks for helping show the Sixers how basketball games at the Wachovia Center should be.

Thank you for making boring drives to visit law schools, super-fan road trips to see a top-five school an unforgettable time.

Thank you for beating Boston College and justifying the fact that I didn’t get in. (Raynor Denitzio ’07)

Thank you for helping us say we knew you when, you know, before you went pro.

Thank you for giving the country another chance to say “size doesn’t matter.” (Stephen Buszka ’09)

Thank you for all the congratulations I got from friends, co-workers and family every time you won a game.

Thank you for making us belie-V-e.

Thank you for being the family we all wish we were a part of and bringing us together like we were.

Thank you for the joy of seeing St. Joe’s fans cry at the Palestra. (Rachel Karl ’06)

Thank you Phil Martelli for giving up on Kyle Lowry before he ever set foot on campus. I don’t know how we will ever find room for that kind of attitude on our team.

Thank you for freshman, sophomore and junior years.

Thank you for next year.

Thank you for a Big Five Championship. We don’t have to be in Philly to own it.

Thank you for a Big East title.

Thank you for away messages and profiles, Facebook groups and any other way we can be fans together when we’re apart.

Thank you head coach Jay Wright for keeping Brooks Brothers solvent for all of eternity. (Alessandro Roco ’09)

Thank you for bringing us to our feet. And since we were already there, for getting the alumni up too.

Thank you for UConn at the Wachovia center.

Thank you for the bruise on my knee from my roommate jumping on me after the BC game. (Melissa Weigel ’07)

Thank you for the “C” I got on my International Organizations midterm because I decided to go to a game instead of studying, a mistake I’d repeat yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Thank you for being undersized everywhere except where it counts, balls and heart.

Thank you for court burns, rebounds in traffic, shot clock violations, clutch free throws, comebacks, overtime wins and every other little hustle play you guys made to show us how much you care.

Thank you for making sophomore boys in Good Counsel cry about something other than having to live on South. (Kim Selway ’08)

Thank you to Frank the busboy at my restaurant for trading my UCLA Sweet Sixteen pool team (plus 10 bucks) for his ‘Nova. I’ll still make that trade.

Thank you for making me feel popular when my phone lit up like a telethon after the Florida game with people running their own Santo Caruso suicide watch.

Thank you for breaking my heart, because as much as it hurts me to see you lose, I know it hurts you more.

Thank you for letting me be a part of the family. (Courtney Scrib ’07)

Thanks for the ride, thanks for always pushing me these four years, for making me the man I am today. (Randy Foye ’06, to Jay Wright)

And just cause it made my allergies flair up, Jay’s response: keep your head up, keep working hard; I will always be there for you. (Wow.)

Thank you for by far the easiest column I ever wrote.