If today is any indication of how the tournament will go, we are going to be in for a wildly entertaining ride.

First, in Las Vegas, #5 San Diego State found themselves up 27-11 late in the first half – well on their way to the Mountain West championship and possibly a #1 seed in the tournament.  Problem is no one explained this to Utah State.  The Aggies closed the gap to 8 by halftime, and kept chipping away at the lead until the stage was set.  Sam Merrill waited to bring as much of the clock down as possible, started his drive to the basket, stopped a good 3-4 feet behind the three-point line and drained a three-pointer (which was well defended) with 2.5 seconds left to make Utah State the first team to get their invitation to the dance with a stunning 59-56 victory.

Then, in Nashville, the top two teams from the Ohio Valley Conference (Belmont and Murray State) played for their conference’s big prize.  Unlike the Mountain West championship, despite Belmont being 25-7 and Murray State being 23-8, this appears to be a win or stay home type of game.  And they played like it.  Belmont found themselves up one point with 22 seconds with 83% FT shooter Adam Kunkel on the line to try to seal the game.  But Kunkel missed the FT, Murray State came back down the court, and Tevin Brown drew a foul with 11 seconds on his drive to the basket.  Brown calmly hit both FTs to give Murray State the lead.  But Belmont would have one last chance.   And in a fitting way, Adam Kunkel got the ball, dribbled to the top of the key, and made a beautiful back-door pass to a wide open Tyler Scanlon who finished the play with a nice layup with only 3 seconds left.  This time, Murray State wouldn’t get another good chance, and Belmont won the game 76-75 to get their ticket to the dance.

Two conference championship games – two buzzer beater endings – two teams earning their way into the NCAA Championship!!!!!!  Can’t get much better than that!!!!!!