Six overtimes later, a classic is born.

On paper, it had all the trappings of a standard conference tournament game. Yes, Syracuse and Connecticut are great teams from the nation's best conference, and yes, respective members of Orangemen and Huskie faithful filed into Madison Square Garden expecting the two teams to put on a compelling show. However, no one expected to witness history. After all, UConn and Syracuse had already secured their place in the NCAA tournament, so there was no need for either team to play with an increased sense of urgency. Or so we thought. Nearly four hours after the opening tip, after six grueling overtime periods, an instant classic was born, a wild, back-and-forth affair that will be forever entrenched in the minds of sports fans everywhere. Syracuse and UConn didn't merely play a basketball game on Thursday night in New York City, they played one of the most flabbergasting, awe-inspiring, mesmerizing games I have ever seen.



For those readers who did not see the game, it may seem like I am an emotionally drunk prisoner of the moment. But allow me to list the reasons why the game was so spectacular.



Reason Number One: Jonny Flynn. By the sixth overtime, most players looked like they were about to collapse from exhaustion. Not Jonny Flynn. The star sophomore guard played a whopping sixty-seven minutes, but he never stopped energetically slashing down the lane. Flynn put up 34 points and 11 assists, and his remarkable toughness was the difference in the game.



Reason Number Two: The electric atmosphere. The majority of the 19,000 fans in attendance at Madison Square Garden probably had to get up early and go to work on Friday, but I think their bosses would understand if they took a sick day. The beautiful thing about last night's crowd is that at 1:15 in the morning there were still no empty seats in sight. Everybody remained standing for each of the six overtimes, well aware that they were witnessing something truly special.

Reason Number Three: The Effort. As I mentioned before, with each passing minute, the athletes on the floor looked like they had just gotten out of Navy Seals training. They were winded and just ready to go home. Even Jim Calhoun and Jim Boeheim were ready to call it quits. However, not one player let this overwhelming exhaustion prevent him from exerting 100 percent effort. Until the final buzzer sounded, players continued to dive on the floor for loose balls, box out for rebounds, and hustle back on the defense.

Eventually, a winner emerged, as Syracuse won 127-117.

Bottom line: The game was awesome to watch. If the NCAA tournament games are half as entertaining as this one, then we are in store for one hell of a tournament.

(Less than seventeen hours after their incredible victory, Syracuse played yet another overtime game against West Virginia. They won again. Syracuse plays tomorrow night against Louisville for the Big East tournament championship. The Orangemen plan on waking up approximately fifteen minutes before tip-off.)