March Madness!

Welcome to March, one of the craziest times in the sporting year. College basketball and hockey enter their tourney phases, the NHL and NBA head down the home stretches of the regular season, and baseball fans begin to think about the summer and the relaxation of sitting on the back porch with a tall glass of (enter cold drink of choice here), a book, and their favorite MLB team on the radio.

If we weren't ready for all of this, we were after yesterday. A full slate of college hoops thrilled the masses yesterday from stunning upsets (Baylor & Georgia Tech), to highway robbery (Oklahoma State), to one of the greatest games you will see in years (Syracuse - UConn). The day had something for everybody.

One of the things that yesterday really did was change the complexion of Selection Sunday. With the Baylor & Oklahoma State victories, two teams that were in bubble talk are suddenly more interesting. Baylor has at least played itself into the discussion and Oklahoma State has all but sewn up what was considered a debatable selection until yesterday. The truly sad part about Oklahoma State is that the refs gift wrapped that win for them. To make a foul call in such a situation with the game, seedings (Oklahoma was hoping to gain that #1 seed), and even post season hopes on the line is not the way you want to see these contests end. Don't get me wrong, Oklahoma State played a hell of a game and certainly deserved the victory I just wish they had won it the way Villanova defeated Marquette, with a clean basket to get the win. Bubble teams everywhere hate upsets as it adds more teams with passable resumes all vying for the same limited number of slots.

Which brings me to the classic. If the Syracuse-UConn game has been a wrestling match it would have been a worthy "Last Man Standing" match (though I am sure some of the participants may have considered it "Hell in a Cell" or the "Elimination Chamber"). With four players from each team fouling out over six grueling back-and-forth overtimes, it truly was last man standing. It was not simply in the way these teams played (both were phenomenal) but the fact that there were great individual performances (Stanley Robinson was the best he's been since coming to UConn and Andy Rautins 3-point shooting was something special) and the drama that was involved. As Devendorf squared up in regulation you knew that the shot was going through the net, and yet somehow you knew that it wasn't going to count. I must admit I thought that would be it for Syracuse. I figured that going from that emotional high to having to continue for another 5 minutes (who knew at the time it would take another 30 minutes of playing time to decide this one) was going to be too much and UConn's depth was going to win out. But I was wrong, and for every punch one threw the other countered beautifully. Until UConn ran out of time, players, and counters. This was a game for the ages.

That's the beauty of March. Tonight begins the Hockey East tourney as the BC men's hockey team looks to recapture their old form and their old glory. Wins tonight and tomorrow are necessary to get into NCAA tournament. The fire they showed last Saturday on Senior Night needs to be there tonight. They traditionally do not play well at UNH. But March is a time when the unexpected becomes the tradition. I'm anxious to see what more excitement this weekend holds not just for BC but for all the teams and all the schools. I love March!