March Madness it is, after all.
A relatively mundane men’s NCAA Tournament was playing to script late Saturday night at the Alamodome, another boring double-digit Duke win to digest, leaving us with faint hopes of Florida phenom Walter Clayton Jr. hitting enough circus shots against the Blue Devils to make tonight’s final memorable.
But you can’t bury this tournament until the last second of the last game ticks away. Clearly, the same is true of Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars.
Down 64-55 with 125 seconds left, in a game they trailed by 14 just a few minutes earlier, in a game they led for three minutes and change all night, in a game that was destined for Duke 72, Houston 59 or some such final score… they won.
They won? That game? Against that team, by some measures one of the best in the sport’s history?
It was an all-time stunner. It’s a redefined tournament, to be decided tonight by… Florida and Houston. And the looks of disbelief on the faces of Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils walking off the court brought to mind… the Houston Cougars. Of 1983.
Read more on Houston’s stunning win and their first national championship appearance in over 40 years below.
