The Night of Miracles

I've already talked about the unexpected victories of San Diego and Western Kentucky, but there were more surprises in store Friday night with the defeats of Vanderbilt and Clemson.

Some of us have quirky reasons why we don't like teams, and I have never liked Clemson for the simple fact that I got a speeding ticket coming home from there one night. Petty, I know. But it's reason enough for me, so I have to admit I felt a little glee when they lost (though I know certain people who are going to have something to say to me when they read this).

With an early lead, Clemson was going to break the mold of upsets that night as Villanova ambled around like elementary students facing highschoolers. And for the first 4 minutes of the game, Villanova apparently confused the number 2 with a high number as they stayed with it until Reggie Redding made a 3 point jumper. But by the beginning of the second half, someone had set a fire underneath Villanova's shoes as they closed the point gap between them and Clemson. It soon became too close to call and was anyone's game. The underdog team fought back like a caged wild animal and gained the lead by one point with 12 minutes remaining. To be such pros, the big Tiger put its tail between its legs and began to slink off the court before Terrence Oglesby became Super-Freethrow Man and made about a billion of them. (Okay, it was more like 8. Same thing.) Demontez Stitt made two other free throws to tie the score at 66.

At this point, no one knew what to expect. It was obvious the Fairy Godmother was around, waving her wand like a maniac determined to make some miracles come true for some poor teams that didn't have a chance. But had the clock already struck midnight? Well, not quite. Villanova pulled back into the lead 18 seconds later and held on to it with an iron grip. Clemson tried to do damage control by saying that experience in the tournament is 'overrated', so I guess they won't be too sad, then, when they go back home with barely anything to show for it.

Villanova, San Diego, Western Kentucky . . . have I left anyone out? Of course, leaving out Siena would be like leaving out the Prince and the glass slipper.

There was more than a one point separating the 13th seed Siena and number 4 Vanderbilt, as they took the game home with a 21 (!) point lead. But more amazing than that, the Saints never faltered in the game. Understatement of the Year award goes to Tay Fisher, who said, "I really don't consider it an upset. I have confidence in my team and I knew we could hang with anybody in the country." Of course you can. That's why you're number 13, after all, and you're best known for beating Stanford . . . in 1989. Whereas your opponents have someone like Shan Foster, 22nd player in SEC history to get over 2,000 points, they're number 4, and frankly, they're better than you. (At least, they were until they had a brain fart the size of Chernobyl.) But who's getting bothered with specifics?

The closest that the Wildcats (I'm really starting to wish teams would choose other animals in the kingdom) would even come to the Saints was 7 points. With a minute left, Vanderbilt realized it was over and stopped trying to make it look like they even had a can of bumrush they were going to open up. If they did have one, it must've been run over by the bus on the way in. Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings blamed the whole loss on himself, calling the whole thing his responsibility. To that I say, "Whatever gets you to sleep at night, Kev . . ."

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Created by: HeatherAkena