Upsetting

So, that 12-over-5 thing. That's not really still, you know, a thing, is it?

What do you think, IU?

No, it's not a thing. Why are you asking us? We beat Chattanooga like a dozen egg whites. We looked like the flippin' Warriors doing it. Perhaps you should ask someone else.

Fine. We'll ask your best friends, then.

Purdue? How about it? 12-over-5 still a thing?

Go away. And take our guards with you.

Baylor?

Go away. And take William Howard Taft and the rest of those presidents with you..

Yale, man. I mean ... freakin' Yale.

Yes, freakin' Yale, man. Yes, Arkansas -- and not the real Arkansas, but Arkansas-Little Rock. Three 12-vs.-5 matchups, on the first real day of the NCAA Tournament; 2-1 in favor of the 12s.

And because the Blob lives where it lives -- Indiana, and what of it? -- it is the Arkansas Little-Rock 12-over-5 that matters, because UALR took out Purdue, and did it in such a way that we're all still trying to figure it out. One second the Boilermakers are up 13 and cruising with 3:30 to play; the next, Josh Hagins is dropping a ridiculous fadeaway heave from a county away to force overtime.

Then it goes another overtime. And then UALR is celebrating as Purdue's last possession goes to pieces like a watch hitting the sidewalk from a fourth-story window.

Which left a whole lot of questions hanging in the air. Among them:

1. Who is Josh Hagins, and why couldn't anybody guard his 31-point-scoring butt?

2. How do you have two guys (Vince Edwards and A.J. Hammons) go for double-doubles and lose?

3. Above all else, why did the people who suspected Purdue didn't have the guards to go deep in Da Tournament have to be right?

The Blob was among those people, ahem, and while it has a dismal track record for being right this time of year ,.. well, you know the one about the stopped clock. Hagins did what he wanted because the Purdue backcourt couldn't stop him. And the Purdue backcourt couldn't match him.

In short: Guards win in the Madness. UALR had one, and Purdue didn't.

And now?

Well, now the Purdues go home. And Indiana gets Kentucky tomorrow night in the Just Us Chickens Bowl, a 4-vs.-5 matchup.

So now the question becomes: Is 5-over-4 a thing?