When you choke, it shouldn't matter what seed you are

I just watched one of the most exciting NCAA games in years, an historic upset in the making against one of the college basketball giants. Mighty Duke was in danger of losing to Belmont, a name more familiar to horse racing than hoops. It was a game they will talk about for years to come, a brave and valiant attempt by a tiny little David to topple mighty Goliath.

What they should remember it for, is one of the greatest choke jobs in NCAA tournament history.

Sorry, Belmont. You are to be congratulated for your effort. You most definitely came to play tonight, and by all rights should have been the second #2 seed ever to win a college basketball post-season game. You deserved it. You earned it. You outplayed a team who assumed you'd run away scared at the opening tip.

And when it came time to turn it up, the Blue Devils couldn't. Missing shot after shot, getting outboarded and outpounded by your relentless team, they pretty much handed you the game in the end, your chance at immortality. No one would ever have forgotten your name, ever. You had the lead AND the ball in the final minute. Even when you lost the lead, you still had the ball under their basket with :04 remaining, down by a single point. Timeout.

Your coach orders up a play you've worked on all season, a lob to the hole and a subsequent slam dunk. If run correctly, it's virtually indefensible short of giving up a foul. In which case, you'd get the chance to beat arguably college basketball's biggest name from 15 feet away, while they watched helplessly. Or at the very least, you'd take them into overtime. With all the momentum in the world.

The horn blows, you break the huddle and take the court. The ref hands you the ball. You take it out of his hands, look away briefly to throw Duke's attention elsewhere. Then you lob it, as diagramed. Right to Duke.

Game over.

It will never be talked about, since you shouldn't have been in the game with seconds remaining to begin with. Anyone even whispering the C word will be scolded immediately by all around him. After all, they came so close! But you know. I know. And everyone saying nothing about it knows.

It's not the biggest choke in the history of March Madness. It could never be. You didn't grab the ball down a point with just seconds remaining and call a timeout your team didn't have. Chris Webber's gift to North Carolina is and will always be the #1 Choke Of All-Time. And it's not even second. You didn't trail by a point with just seconds remaining and essentially hand the ball to your opponent. Georgetown's gift, again to North Carolina, will most likely be the #2 Choke Of All-Time. (Wow, those UNC boys must be pretty scary, if teams just keep handing them national titles!)

So congrats, #3. With one tight-throated pass, with one ill-executed play, you turned history into infamy. But at least you gave a valiant effort. Remember that on the ride home.