I didn’t watch it.

Let’s get that out of the way first. I didn’t see one moment of the Syracuse-UNCA game. A close friend had a crisis that began at roughly 2:30pm Thursday and I forewent watching the game to lend a supportive hand. I figured of all games to miss, this one would be OK. SU would probably have trouble early (like they usually do) and I’d be aggravated for no reason, until they turned on the gas at some point and pulled away to win by 15-20 points.

How wrong was that.

So I’m going to have to reserve my individual critiques until I watch the tape later today. But they must have played like serious ass. I know UNCA was good for a 16 seed — the truly dreadful teams that used to be all four 16s are now in the play-in games — and I know SU was trying to readjust to Fab’s absence (”Fabsence”) but even with those factors there is no way this game should have been that close. I’m stunned. I really thought JB would have the kids ready to play. All the pregame reports suggested that their mindset was correct. But clearly it wasn’t.

I’ll have more later, after I actually watch the tape, and then read all the game stories, and then maybe take a nap. I need answers to my questions, such as “How did SU only score 70 against this team?” And I am fully aware that playing poorly and winning is loads better than the alternative. But suffice it to say that my optimism level has fallen off a cliff.