Why College Basketball is the best sport

Last night the University of Pittsburgh knocked of Duke University 65-64 in OT. Now, I was only able to watch the last 10 minutes of regulation and overtime, but there is really only one word I can use to describe that game: exhausting. And I wasn't playing in it. I wasn't at the game live. I have no affiliation with either team. Hell, I really didn't care who won - I hate Pitt (one of my UConn Huskies' biggest rivals) but I also despise Duke (who doesn't). If there was any possible way for it to occur, I was rooting for both teams to lose.

The game, however, really was incredible (watch the highlights if you missed it). It was played at Madison Square Garden (a neutral site arena which is not every close to either campus), but it was sold out with a very bi-partisan crowd - there were just as many Duke fans there as Pitt fans. Both teams fought so hard to win, in a game that really did not mean too much. Yes, a win over a top 10 team looks good come tournament time, but it is only December. Both of these teams are going to get a top 3-seed in the NCAA tourney regardless of the outcome of last nights game, and whether or not they get a 1-seed will really depend on whether they win their conference and/or conference tournament. There is no long standing rivalry (like, for example, Wisconsin and Marquette who have a bitter a rivalry as there is and play every year, but are in different conferences) between these two teams - in fact this was their first match-up in 28 years. But the kids on either side played their hearts out.

The last two minutes of regulation had as much excitement, great plays, and clutch shots as any non-tournament game I've watched in a long time. Pitt battled all the way back from a 34-22 halftime deficit to take a a 54-51 lead on two Levance Fields free throws. The following five possessions went like this: Gerald Henderson of Duke drives around three Pitt players and finishes with a dunk; Sam Young finishes a tough drive by muscling a little 5 foot jumper up off the glass; Henderson gets into the paint and finds freshman Kyle Singler who burries a three to tie the game; Young knocks down a 15-footer from the corner off a ridiculously quick release for a big man with a hand in his face; Henderson burries a turnaround jumper from the corner (almost behind the backboard) to send it to OT. Overtime was more of the same - Duke goes up two, thanks in part to Demarcus Nelson's incredible up-and-under-and-1-reverse-lay-up, only to lose on a step back three from Fields where he shook a very good defender in Dave McClure with a beautiful cross-over. What a game.

Now tell me another sport where both teams will play this hard in a game not even midway through the season, especially with two of the best teams in that league playing. Certainly not the NBA. There were three games this week that pitted top five teams against each other - Suns vs. Spurs, Suns vs. Mavs, Celtics vs. Pistons. None of these games came close to the intensity of the Duke-Pitt game, with the exception of maybe the Mavs game. But Dallas has one of the best crowds in the NBA, and the whole Nash-Dirk-BFF thing has turned this game into a rivalry - two factors that were not prevalent in the game last night. In baseball, the fans take a regular season game much more seriously than the players - especially when New York plays Boston. But again - home fields and rivalries are what makes these games intense. I'll give you football, both college and NFL. But there is a difference since one loss can blow an entire season since there are so few games. The game last night will nor really factor into the success either of these two teams have in the post-season.

One more thing that I loved about this game. When Mike Cook went down last night, writhing in pain as a result of what looks like a season ending knee injury, Pitt Coach Jamie Dixon sent his team to talk with his assistant, while he knelt by Cook, holding his hand until the training staff could get him off the court. The coach looked close to tears after the game talking about Cook's injury. How often do you see a coach that is as close to his players as that?