When There's Madness, you Know It's March

Instant classic
UConn and the Orange battle on
Into sixth OT

(A Haggy Haiku)

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Get out your garden hoe, March Madness is in full bloom.

Well, not quite.

But if the Big Dance resembles anything that happened in the conference tournaments Thursday, it should be exciting.

Baylor upset No. 1 seed Kansas 71-64 in the Big 12 Tournament and, at 2-14 in ACC play, the 12^th-seeded Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech knocked off nationally ranked Clemson 86-81.

Later, Oklahoma State stuffed Blake Griffin and 6th-ranked Oklahoma 71-70 and West Virginia upended No. 2 Pittsburgh 74-60 before the stage was set for the six overtimes thriller at Madison Square between UConn and Syracuse.

Jonny Flynn scored a game-high 34 points and the Orange defeated the Huskies 127-117 in what was the second longest game in NCAA Division I history.

It was a matter of survival. Syracuse won.

UConn's top three scorers on the night -- A.J. Price, Hasheem Thabeet and Stanley Robinson -- all fouled out. Thabeet and Robinson picked up their fifth fouls midway through the fourth overtime.

Looking back on the other games ...

In a stacked Big 12 and sitting on the proverbial bubble of the field of 65, Baylor needed the victory more. The Bears came to play.

The Wildcats didn't.

They hit just 40.3 percent from the floor and could do nothing to stop the shooting of LaceDarius Dunn who hit six threes and scored 24 points.

...

The Clemson Tigers as a program have risen from the the once unfertile soil into becoming a NCAA regular (this year will make three straight appearances). Gritty, hard-nosed basketball has allowed the Tigers to exceed expectations. Immaturity from a history of failure, and horrendous free throw shooting have found a way to catch the team's success and buck it like Bones does potential riders.

It happened again today. Georgia Tech dropped an anvil on Clemson's chest Thursday and left the once solidified four or five seed (in the NCAA Tournament) Tigers doubting themselves once more.

...

Pittsburgh, like Kansas, didn't show up.

That's what happens when its team's best rebounder and second leading scorer (DeJuan Blair) fouls out after playing just 18 minutes and the rest of his teammates can't find the mark.

In a 16-team field such as the Big East has, it's tough for even the nation's best to pull through every night.

...

The same can be said about top teams in a jam-packed Big 12.

It's always tough to beat a team three times in the same season, especially when placed back-to-back; that's what the Sooners faced. And if not for a wishy-washy foul on Griffin in the game's closing seconds that sent James Anderson to the line for the winning free throws, Oklahoma would likely still be vying for a No. 1 seed in the round fo 65.

All that's left is to see what craziness will present itself tomorrow.