After waiting an extra year for the tournament. After getting the tournament to happen in Purdue’s backyard. After getting a decent draw considering that Villanova was having injury issues. After finally not having to play a top Big 10 game where your star centers were supposed to shine.

Someone forgot to tell Cinderella not to crash the party. #13 North Texas took my Boilers down in overtime to win their first ever NCAA tournament game. The Boilers managed to fight their way to tie the game, but one of their biggest problems hit them hard during that comeback. Williams missed a FT that could have made it a one point game, Ivey made a great play to tie the game and get to the line, but couldn’t hit the FT to take the lead. And the next time down the court, Thompson missed his FT to take the lead. You can’t keep giving teams extra chances.

I still have to handicap all Saturday’s games – but it is going to be tough to keep watching after that heartbreak. Hope all the underdogs keep winning. If Cinderella is going to knock out my Boilers, she might as well get some more friends to join her at the dance.