Man, These Games Run LATE

Before we delve into last night's games, a legitimate question: Why doesn't the NCAA receive the complaints about the late endings of their most important games the way Major League Baseball does for scheduling the World Series so late? We know that they have to fit in two games, but the Ohio State-Tennessee game, one of the best games of the tournament (even if the fans in attendance seemed to be asleep), didn't end until just before 1 a.m. this morning. And hey: Those student-athletes have to be at class this morning! Right?

Anyway, three terrific games last night — it's as if the UCLA-Pittsburgh had to be brutal just to make up for the other three — and it's difficult to pick our favorite among them. The Kansas-SIU game was a classic underdog just missing battle; Bill Self is going to see the Salukis' swarming defense in his nightmares. Texas A&M-Memphis had some clock weirdness late kill some of its karma, but it's unlikely it would have mattered much anyway. We guess we'll go with the late-night Ohio State-Tennessee game, which had a beautiful Tennessee run — they are so much fun to watch — and an equally flowing Buckeyes comeback. Even Greg "Droopy" Oden, whose countenance we wrote about in our , overcame a middling evening with a halfhearted game-winning swat at the end.

Many have complained that the tournament has been too predictable this year, and we suppose there's some merit to that. But even though last night only merely produced the No. 1 seeds against the No. 2 seeds in the Elite Eight, you certainly can't say the route there wasn't thrilling.

A Star's Emotional Range, And Part Two of the Rooters' Guide [TimesSelect]