Weather forecast alert – a Hurricane will be heading to Houston, Texas after causing havoc in Kansas City.

Texas was up 13 points with 14 1/2 minutes to play. With 11 minutes that lead was still 12 points when a pivotable moment happened. Just not pivotable in the way you would have expected. There was a battle for a loose ball, it got sent high in the error, and Norchad Omier and Marcus Carr went for the ball. Omier completely runs over Carr for his 4th foul, but Carr also had to leave the game for a few minutes later as he fell awkwardly on his leg. He would return to the game, but you could clearly see that he was hurting as he tried to play through the pain. Over the next 6 minutes, Miami would go on a 20-7 run and take a 73-72 lead.

The next 5 minutes would see a fun battle as Miami’s Jordan Miller kept getting to the free throw line and making his free throws, Miami’s Isaiah Wong would drive into the lane to score baskets, Texas’ Tyrese Hunter hit a three pointer to answer Miami’s run, and Texas’ Sir’Jabari Rice and Marcus Carr hit drives to the basket to tie the game.

Then, with 1 minute left, a critical foul called change the game. Miami’s Nijel Pack missed a three-point shot, and Omier jumped high for the rebound over Texas’ Brock Cunningham’s back and fell in a scary way as it almost looked like he flipped over Cunningham. The original call was going to be Omier’s 5th for going over the back, but the referees discussed it and change the call to be a loose ball foul on Cunningham.

When they replayed it, you could see Cunningham backing into Omier as he blocked out, and then when Omier jumped for the ball, Cunningham continued to go backwards and undercut Omier. To be honest, I think this call is more controversial than the one in the Creighton game. Cunningham had position for the rebound. Players are taught to box out, which is what Cunningham was doing. It looked a little bit like when Omier jumped, Cunningham partially went backwards simply because there was no longer a player behind him making contact with him. Omier certainly jumped over his back. I’d have to do a little bit of research into finding out when boxing out and moving backwards becomes a foul – it certainly could go either way (as it was called by two referees on the court differently).

Instead of Texas’ Cunningham heading to the free throw line, Omier made both free throws to give Miami a 2 point lead. But that might not be the most critical piece. The foul would have been Omier’s fifth if it had gone the other way. Instead, on the next possession, Marcus Carr dribbled into the lane to try to score, Omier double teamed him, reached in and cleanly stole the ball. Carr would eventually foul Miami’s Isaiah Wong to stop the clock, and Wong would extend the Hurricanes lead to 4 from the line.

Brock Cunningham would miss a couple of shots, and Miami’s Jordan Miller would hit 4 more free throws and ice the game for the Hurricanes. Miami would win 88-81 and knock off the Big 12 tournament champions.

The most impressive piece of this is that Miami did this from inside the arc. The Hurricanes are normally excellent at shooting the three, but Texas was extending their defense and held them from 2-8 from three. So, the Hurricanes realized what Texas was giving them and pushed the ball to the basket. All 5 Hurricanes’ starters scored double digits. Jordan Miller led the attack with a perfect 7-7 from the field and a perfect 13-13 from the field for 27 points. The announcers said that was the first time this happened since Christian Laettner. Miami shot 59.2% against Texas’s impressive defense. So, instead of Texas heading home to play the Final Four in their own state, the ACC Champion cut down the nets in Kansas City and will take their place.

This has truly been a historic tournament. No 1 seeds made it past the Sweet 16. No 1, 2 or 3 seeds made it to the Final Four. It is the first time in history that none of the top 12 seeded teams found their way to the Final 4. To make it crazier, 3 of the 4 seeds also were eliminated. So, it is really 15 of the top 16 teams that didn’t make it to the Final 4…..

I will have to do some verification, but this likely means that the standings are pretty locked. If you picked Connecticut or Miami, you were one of the few people who got a Final Four team correct. And that means you are already pretty close to the top of the standings.

Congratulations to the ACC co-regular season champions. In the eye of the Hurricane, there is quiet, for just a moment…… And then pure chaos!!!!