What a day. Seriously, is there any month better than March for basketball fans? Every year, I find myself questioning whether it’s physically possible for the games to live up to the ones of the previous years. Without fail, they do. This year is no exception, and we haven’t even reached the NCAA tournament. Game-winning shots, unbelievable dunks, game-tying shots to send games to overtime, a team playing twice in one day, and an unheard of tactic in the final seconds of a close game. All of those characteristics were present around the country Saturday.

      Truthfully, I have no idea where to start. But this is ACC country, and the semifinals in Charlotte were certainly two of the best games of the day. National Player of the Year hopeful Tyler Hansbrough delivered in classic Hansbrough fashion, chasing down a loose ball followed by nailing a 15 footer with 0.8 seconds left on the clock. That shot capped off a strong finish for the Tar Heels, who trailed Virginia Tech by as many as eight in the second half. After the game, Hokie Coach Seth Greenberg emphatically challenged anyone who might have ideas that Virginia Tech was undeserving of an at-large berth in the tournament. He has less than a day to see his team’s fate, but if he wants to know why they might not make it, he should look at their 1-7 record against the RPI Top 50 teams.

      In the second semifinal, Clemson managed to defeat Duke for the first time in 22 attempts. The Tigers finally played solid basketball down the stretch, where they have struggled against the good teams in tight games. Free throws usually play an issue, but that was not the case on this afternoon. The win vaulted Clemson into the ACC Championship game, where they have not been since 1962. As of today, Clemson is the only original member of the ACC to never win the Conference Tournament. After two games with North Carolina this season in which the Tar Heels were outplayed by the Tigers, perhaps that statistic will change by this time tomorrow.

   In Atlanta, the day started off with Georgia and Kentucky playing in front of only limited family members, friends, and the bands, as the SEC was unable to accommodate the fans after the move from the Georgia Dome to Georgia Tech. Those that were there were well rewarded however. In a down to the wire game that was sent to overtime, the final five seconds were remarkable. Freshman guard Zac Swansey brought the ball up for Georgia down by two points, and spun into a three-pointer that fell through the net with only 1.2 seconds remaining. The sequence that followed this was as curious as anything I’ve seen. After Kentucky threw the ball out of bounds off of their inbounds play, they were forced to foul Georgia with less than a tick left on the clock. Knowing that Georgia would miss the second free throw purposely, Kentucky Coach Billy Gillespie told his players to jump up and goaltend the shot, so that no time would run off the clock. What Gillespie did not realize was that it was an automatic technical, and Georgia received another shot and the ball, allowing them to score six points in the final two seconds, and win the game by four.

   Later that day, the semifinals in Atlanta were just as thrilling. For the second day in a row, Tennessee went down to the wire with an SEC opponent, but this time they fell just a bit short, and it may leave them just a bit short of a Number One seed later today. Unlikely offensive hero Steven Hill hit his only bucket of the day, a turnaround 12-footer with five seconds left in regulation, to put the Razorbacks up by a point. This win vaulted Arkansas into the SEC championship game, and its seed for the NCAA tournament is sure to be going up by the game. Today, they will meet Georgia, who also won their second game of the day, by the count of 64-60, over Mississippi State. That win gave the Bulldogs their third win of the tournament, only one less than the four wins they had in the entire season of conference play.

   Similarly to Georgia, in Big 10 country, Illinois and Bruce Weber won their third consecutive game, only two less than the five they won during the season. Remarkably, if Illinois or Georgia can prevail in their respective championship games, we could see a power conference team playing in the play-in game. If ever there was a chance of a 16 seed defeating a 1 seed, I would have to think this would be the situation. However, one of them has to win today first, and Illinois will play Wisconsin, the team that has been in charge in the Big 10 the entire year, and has their eyes set on a Number Two seed.

   There were a number of champions crowned yesterday as well. Memphis rolled over Tulsa, taking the C-USA title. UCLA survived against Stanford, overcoming Kevin Love and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute injuries, to win the Pac-10 championship. Pittsburgh, led by its kids from New York City, impressed again, defeating a Georgetown team that looked dominant in their previous two games, to take home the Big East crown. UNLV defeated BYU, in what could be considered a slight upset, to take the MWC title.

   In smaller conferences, champions included UMBC, Mississippi Valley State, Kent State, Cal State Fullerton, Boise State, and Coppin State, the first 20-loss team to ever reach the NCAA tournament.

   Looking towards today, the ACC championship will tip off at 1 p.m., followed by the Big 12 showdown of Kansas and Texas, for the third straight year. At 3:30, we will see if either Illinois can upset Wisconsin or Georgia can upset Arkansas. Then, of course, the selection shows. Again, stay close to your televisions today folks.    -NICHOLAS KING