Welcome to the Sweet 16, otherwise known as the ACC Invitational (with a few outsiders). The fact that one league composes 37.5 percent of the surviving March Madness bracket is the latest head-shaking, logic-defying twist in an 2018 NCAA Tournament that has been flooded with them.
Six teams out of 16 from one conference. "The tournament," Mike Krzyzewski said aloud, "is crazy."
Seemed that way Sunday, anyway, when Northern Iowa could not hold a 12-point lead in 44 seconds.
When Maryland went 1-of-18 in 3-pointers and moved past Hawaii, anyway.
When Notre Dame was saved by a reserve averaging 2.5 points a game.
When Wisconsin’s Bronson Koenig – 3-for-17 in 3-pointers the previous three games – hit two in the last 14 seconds to break Xavier’s hearts.
When Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield waited until his team was tied and in trouble against VCU with 11 minutes left to bring his A game – scoring 21 points in those 11 minutes.
And just look at the curvy roads taken by some of the 16..
Syracuse lost five of its last six regular season games?
Wisconsin was once 9-9, with an interim coach and the team calling a players’ only meeting after losing to Northwestern?
Gonzaga was on the brink of being left out of the tournament?
Indiana’s Tom Crean was toast, according to talk shows and critics?
Texas A&M needed 12 points in 44 seconds just to get into overtime? "I still don’t know what happened," Billy Kennedy said afterward. And he was the winning coach.
What happened is Northern Iowa had only eight turnovers the first 39 minutes and 30 seconds of regulation, and four in the last 30 seconds. "Thirty seconds," coach Ben Jacobson said, "that we aren’t going to be able to ever have an answer for."