What an incredible finish to the 2022 NCAA Tournament. And you have to admire the resilience. The Jayhawks at one point were down 16 points in the first half – the largest comeback in a NCAA championship game was 15 by Loyola Chicago against Cincinnati in 1963. The 15 points they were down at halftime was also tied for the 4th largest halftime lead in a championship game. And of course, you have the Lunatic Curse – since the Jayhawks were the last team standing of all of the Lunatic’s picks.

Charlie was saying that we need to get the lyrics out again.

I’m a Tar Heel Born, I’m a Tar Heel Bred

And when I die, I’ll be a Tar Heel Dead

For it’s Rah! Rah! Carolina! Rah Rah Carolina!

Rah! Rah! Carolina! Rah! Rah! Rah!

But there would be no joy in Chapel Hill tonight. Because the thing that makes the Tar Heels so exciting also can be the thing that makes the so frustrating. There are not many teams that can go up 25 with 10 minutes to play against Baylor, and then allow their opponent to come charging back to tie the game. For every 10-0 run the Tar Heels have, you have to be worried about the 10-0 run coming from their opponent.

The Jayhawks did just that to fight back into the game. With 2:39 left in the game, Remy Martin hit a huge three pointer to give the Jayhawks a 3 point lead. But that lead wouldn’t last long, Caleb Love came sprinting down the court and before you knew it, he drove to the hoop and made it a 1 point game.

Jalen Wilson missed a three-pointer as the shot clock was running down, and Love came charging down the court again. This time, he missed his wild shot in the lane, but the ball went off the backboard and right into the hands of Brady Manek, who slammed home the dunk and gave the Tar Heels a 69-68 lead. Then, David McCormack put the Jayhawks on his back. He got the ball in the lane and missed, but he aggressively got the offensive rebound over everyone, made a quick dribble in the lane with Bacot and Manek both on him, and would not be denied the basket.

Caleb Love tried driving again to the basket, but this time Martin came from behind to block the ball out of bounds with 6 seconds on the shot clock. The Tar Heels got the ball into Armando Bacot, he tried to drive to the basket, but he turned his right ankle and lost the ball. With Bacot hurt on the other side of the court, Kansas seemed content to just let the shot clock run down. So, the referees stopped play so UNC could tend to their injured star center.

And unfortunately for the Tar Heels, something the Lunatic said eventually came true. Without Bacot there to protect the middle, Kansas drew the shot clock down, got the ball down low to McCormack, and UNC’s Brady Manek had no chance. McCormack pushed his way around in the lane, and scored the lay-up to give Kansas a 3 point lead.

UNC had a wild set of chances at the end. Caleb Love shot a three-pointer up to tie the game but missed. RJ Davis kept the ball alive by getting the offensive rebound and kicked it out to Puff Johnson. Johnson’s shot up a desparate three-pointer that I am not sure even hit the rim. But Manek somehow got his hands on the ball – but as he tried to kick the ball back outside for another three-point chance to tie the game, he threw it out-of-bounds.

But the game wasn’t over yet. That is because as Kansas inbounded the ball, Dajuan Harris Jr stepped on the line and gave the ball right back to the Tar Heels with 4 seconds to play. Unfortunately, UNC had a hard time getting the ball into the court, Caleb Love forced up a highly-contested three-pointer, and watched as the ball harmlessly came to the ground. Kansas had pulled the largest upset in NCAA championship history.

Congratulations to the Kansas Jayhawks – they are the 2022 NCAA National Champions!!!!