As I stare into the crater I created on my couch after hours of sitting in the same spot, sipping my coffee and wiping the crusties out of my eye, I'm still shocked and appalled that Saint Peter's beat Kentucky. What a performance from the Peacocks. They smothered Kentucky, dialed up the energy and their offense was crisper than a Nucky Thompson collar.

I want to give 2 hugs for Kentucky though. First hug is for Oscar Tshiebwe. Kid played his heart out and was the one consistent for Kentucky all season long. Shame it had to end like this for him. I also want to give a hug to BBN. They took the light jaunt north to Indianapolis and once again showed that they're the best traveling fanbase in the country. Kentucky could play the Slovenian national team with Luka and Goran in Ljubljana and BBN would dominate the crowd. But to witness that? Cold world.

But that's what makes what Saint Peter's did all the more remarkable. They won an elimination game against the #2 seeded Kentucky on the road. I think Ian Eagle called it Lexington Light. I want people to really appreciate what the Peacocks did here. I want people to truly understand how difficult it is to pull off these upsets. Georgia State was right there with Gonzaga with 10 minutes to go then just ran out of players and gas. Lost by 21. Think of all the 1s and 2s that were on the ropes only to run away with it under the 8 timeout. At some point the little guy just can't keep up. But Saint Peter's certainly did. Kentucky was up 6 with a couple minutes to go and couldn't put them away. Then when it went to overtime, I think it was pretty clear Saint Peter's was going to win. Kentucky proceeded to miss 5 free throws in the extra frame. Couldn't stop a damn thing on defense and it was a wrap. Simply put, they deserved to lose. Hug for Saint Peters. Oh and hug for me for sniping this potential scenario from the latest blog on Monday:

Other Notes:

-Richmond stunned Iowa. If I'm a Hawkeye fan I'm pissed. Got a few years with Garza, this year with Murray, good seeds recently, good paths and you squander it. Richmond had to win the A10 to get in. Iowa was red hot the last month. Pants were pooped.

-New Mexico State over UConn. How do you feel if you're a Husky fan? You had a really solid year in a tough conference. The goal was to win a few games in the NCAA Tournament after a first round exit to Maryland last year. Yet here we are losing to a school from the WAC. Hurley's seat isn't remotely hot, but he's gotta get a tournament win next year.

-Providence crammed it up our cramholes. Hand up, we here at TICH all took the trendy Jackrabbits because of their offense, their shooting, their up tempo style of play. We were wrong and we're remorseful. Providence locked em up and the game was pretty much won towards the end of the first half. I think Providence went on a 16-6 close. To be fair, I never subscribed to them being lucky. Never subscribed to them being a bad team who gets good draws (although Richmond is best case scenario for them you would think). They win close games and they've done it all year in a good conference. Ed Croswell was the X factor. Super minutes out of him especially on the glass. I'm not sure you could have scripted a better day for the Friars. They shut the country up and UConn lost. So why the Jackrabbits pick? Well we're dunces. But continue to listen if you don't mind.

-Indiana ran out of gas. That and Saint Mary's just grinded them like pepper. Still a good and encouraging first season under Mike Woodson.

-San Diego State choked. Good GRIEF, Aztecs! They had Creighton dead to rights and then the Blue Jays rattled off 9 straight to end regulation. Matt Bradley missed a few free throws and Creighton came away with the win. Grand opening, grand closing for the Mountain West. They gave us the best theater of the season and promptly didn't make it to the 2nd day of the dance (yes yes yes I understand scheduling). Wyoming, Colorado State, Boise State and San Diego State all had their goose cooked. Also sincere hug for Ryan Kalkbrenner. Hope he's alright.

-UCLA rallied. Just a horrendous game from UCLA and a horrendous game from Johnny Juzang. But they won. Survive and advance is all that matters. I still think this is a wildly overlooked team in the national scheme. Jaime Jacquez is a perfect college basketball player and as an Arizona fan, I'm his gimp. Tyger Campbell is a steady point guard who nailed HUGE shots for the Bruins in this game and Jules Bernard can give you 12-15 if he's feeling up to it. But if Juzang continues to play poorly they won't make it back to the Final 4. However this was proof positive of how tough UCLA is. Yes Akron is an inferior opponent but on a night where blue bloods were going down, UCLA found a way. I predict they will continue to do so this tournament.

-What a nightcap from the Dons and Racers! Elite shot making, big comeback late, overtime, players cramping and battling through it. That was the perfect way to end because we were all dreading having to go watch Kansas put the mitts on Texas Southern. This game delivered. Jamaree Bouyea was unconscious last night. He was shooting like the NBA guy who plays professionally in San Francisco. I'm gonna sound like a whiner here, mostly because I had the Dons, but Murray State shot 13 more free throws than my Bay Area brethren. Not a crazy discrepancy but every time I saw the Dons trying to defend they blew the whistle. Great season for both squads.

We've come full circle. The night belonged to Saint Peter's. An upset we will remember for a LONG time. And now the stage is set for either them or Murray State to reach the Sweet 16. We all saw that coming, right?