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NEW YORK — The Big East tournament is so big, it apparently needs its own theme song — and it's getting one, courtesy of Nick Lachey.
The 37-year-old pop singer — and Cincinnati Bearcats fan — penned "Last One Standing," a tribute to the men's basketball tournament being played out this week at Madison Square Garden. The song will make its national debut during the championship game on Saturday.
"My two biggest passions probably in life are sports and music, so for me it was a good opportunity to marry both in this song," Lachey said during a break in Big East tournament play on Thursday. "I think the Big East conference is the best in the country, especially this year. I think we're going to break a record for the most teams sent to the NCAA tournament this year."
The song's chorus asks, "Who's the last, last one standing?" Unlike many of the slow, anthemic ballads that tend to play during the highlight reel at the end of tournaments, Lachey's tune is a driving rock song.
"Writing it, I kept seeing these highlight packages, dunk after dunk after dunk," the former "Newlyweds" reality star said. "Sports is so much about energy and all the excitement you get being there live at a game, and I wanted to capture it in a song."
Lachey was hopeful the song would be playing as his team — the Cincinnati Bearcats — held the trophy. But they were trounced by Notre Dame in a blowout Thursday night.
His fiancee, Vanessa Minnillo, decided to sit out this tournament and stay at their home: "It's the middle of pilot season. She's got bigger fish to fry. She's gonna let the boys have some fun this weekend," he said.
Lachey plans to be at the championship, but he won't be performing the song live: "We kind of talked about trying to pull off a live performance, but it was too last minute to get a band together."
He believes "Last One Standing" might be the first theme song for an athletic conference. After the tournament is over, he hopes the Big East will use the song for its other sports tournaments as well.
"My hope is that this is just representative of the Big East for many years to come," he said.
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