Today's Edition of "Poor Choice of Words"

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This was a very impressive play by Portland State's Jeremiah Dominguez, particularly when you take into account that he was apparently being sodomized by two men at the same time. This kid has exceptional focus.

I'm not sure which CBS talking head dropped this nugget of wisdom, but what I'm more concerned about is Gus Johnson sounding like he's about to fall asleep. My favorite play-by-play guy is apparently back on his medication, this is very upsetting to me. It might have something to do with this. At least we don't have to listen to the crazy ramblings of Billy Packer anymore.

Syracuse Will Not Go Quietly Into the Night

Or into the morning for that matter. It took 3 hours and 46 minutes to finish the longest game in Big East Tournament history and the second-longest game in Division-I history. Jonny Flynn played 67 minutes, a Syracuse record. 8 players fouled out. The two teams combined for 244 points, a Big East record. And my favorite statistic... Syracuse never had the lead in any overtime until the final one! They kept finding ways to tie it in the 5 other overtimes but never had the lead until the 6th overtime, which they held on to for the win.

And all of this could have been prevented if Eric "Chinstrap" Devendorf gets his "buzzer-beating" shot off a tenth of a second quicker. I know these boys must be exhausted, but that game was a hell of a lot of fun to watch, and is a perfect example of why I love Championship Week so much.

UConn goes on to wonder if they'll receive a number one seed in next week's March Madness opening round and Syracuse goes back and does it all over again against a scrappy West Virginia team. Could this be another Gerry McNamara-esque run for Syracuse? Maybe, but at least this year the Orange are guaranteed a spot in the tourney no matter what happens tonight.

And what the hell is the point of that black thing on Hasheem Thabeet's shoulder?

Meet The North Dakota State Bison

Last night, North Dakota State defeated Oakland in the Summit League Championhip. They also did something that hasn't been done in about 40 years: lock up a spot in the NCAA Tournament in their first year of eligibility (the last team was Long Beach St. in the 70s if you're curious). NDSU just recently made the jump from D-2 to D-1 and has made plenty of noise since doing so. Their first act was nearly defeating Minnesota in a football game in the Metrodome, which was loaded with a surprising amount of Bison fans. The next year, NDSU avenged this loss and defeated the Gophers. The noise didn't stop with the football team, NDSU's basketball team upset a ranked Wisconsin team as well as a ranked Marquette team. It was clear they were ready to compete at the Division 1 level, they just had to wait 4 years to be postseason eligible because of NCAA rules. Well they finally got their shot and wasted no time on their path to March Madness.

In a game which NDSU looked out of sync the entire first half and even the beginning of the second half, the Bison turned it up on Oakland and the Grizzlies couldn't keep up. Ben Woodside sealed the deal with a clutch jumper, with about 3 seconds left Oakland had enough time to get a shot off to win it and I gotta admit..I thought it was going in. Thankfully it clanked off the rim and the Bison secured their first trip to the Big Dance in their first year of eligibility. Maybe they'll be wearing glass slippers soon too? Don't be surprised if they make some noise in the tourney, as they've shown they can compete with the big boys.

In a state that mostly cares about hockey and football, NDSU has done a great job of making basketball relevant. Phil Jackson's from North Dakota and still no one cared about basketball; hopefully that can begin to change. If NDSU can continue the winning tradition and with UND transitioning to D-1, North Dakota sports may begin receiving more national attention, though I would argue that UND's Fighting Sioux hockey team has long been nationally relevant and one of the nation's powerhouses.

I wish NDSU all the luck in the world and hope they make a run for it all next week.



uhh.. careful there guys, that's not an injury anyone wants right now.