Times ticking down and the end is in sight. Your team has played well most of the night and you have the lead. The other team is trying anything and everything it can to regain the lead, but it doesn’t matter in the end. As the final seconds tick down, the crowd — or at least the students — have “discreetly” decided to storm the court.

This picture has become common in college basketball, and court storming has recently received quite a bit of criticism. 

CBS Sports writer Gary Parrish wrote a piece last year about why court storming should stop, Sport Illustrated’s Seth Davis published an article this year that spawned from the Iowa State vs. Iowa incident in which Des Moines Register reporter Randy Peterson had his leg broken during a court storming.

Honestly, this argument is getting a bit old and annoying.

Iowa defeated then-No. 1 Michigan State earlier in the season and stormed the court. West Virginia stormed the court after defeating top-ranked Kansas. Iowa State has rushed the court twice this season after defeating No. 1 Oklahoma and rival Iowa. Auburn stormed the court after it beat No. 14 Kentucky.

There have been plenty of cases of court storming this season, and it’s not over yet. Court storming has become a part of basketball, and trying to get rid of it is like trying to separate touchdown celebrations from football. Oh wait, didn’t they already try that?

The SEC decided to crack down on court/field storming last spring, according to ESPN. In Auburn’s case, the Southeastern Conference fined the Tigers $100,000 for storming the court. 

Likewise, Big 12 schools gave the commissioner the power to hand out fines for court/field storming, and in some cases, take away home games. Iowa State could have garnished a fine earlier this season for storming the court after its comeback win against the Hawkeyes, but it did not, according to Big 12 Rules and Policies. The Des Moines Register released an article about this situation and talked about procedures used to help aid in court storming.

Regardless of the regulations that are starting to be established, everyone just needs to stop. The rules that are in place to protect coaches, players and officials are perfect. The argument being made to ban court storming is just ridiculous.

Arguments can be made for anything, but court storming is going to happen. It’s a celebration for winning a game in a big way, and an attempt to stifle the excitement would be difficult in the heat of the moment.

I believe there should be a proper time for court storming. There are plenty of “guides” online as to when court storming is appropriate.

People have recommended that your rank and the opponent’s rank should dictate a court storming. 

Others have suggested a game-winning basket at the buzzer or a huge comeback victory warrant a rush to the court. More specific reasons such as if you come back from a 15-point deficit at half or a 20-point deficit at any point in the game are storm worthy. 

If these circumstances are followed by students, then there should be no problem with court storming because everyone has a general idea when they are coming based on the outcome of the game. If you disagree, that’s OK. Court storming doesn’t happen every game, and that’s how it should be.

Follow the rules that are already in place to ensure the safety of players, coaches and officials, and if you are a fan storming the court, just be safe and smart, especially when the Cyclones take on the Kansas Jayhawks at Hilton Coliseum on Monday night.