Unkillable

And so, in the end, everything the Blob told you about how to pick your brackets was an utter crock. Go figure.

Virginia?

Nah, you don't want to pick Virginia. The Cavaliers fold like laundry in Da Tournament. They've wrecked more office pools than a joykill middle manager. They're the No. 1 seed most likely to get taken out by a 16 seed.

Which, you know, actually happened last year.

This year?

Well, if this isn't the all-time worst-to-first fairy tale, nothing is. Because weren't those the same Virginia Cavaliers cutting down the nets last night?

Sure was.

The Cavs of this March were the Cavs of last March turned inside-out, in the sense that they were harder to kill than a Trumpoid's gullibility. If the Cavaliers made history by becoming the first 1-seed to lose to a 16-seed in 2018, they made history last night by becoming the first 1-seed to lose to a 16-seed in the first round and then win it all the next year.

The former may have been mostly about Virginia's otherworldly refusal to lose during this run, but a whole spray of stars seemed to be aligned in their favor, too. Think about it: The team that lost by 20 to Maryland-Baltimore County in the first round last year was down double-digits to another 16-seed, Gardner-Webb, in its first-round game this year. That could have the ruination of them right there.

But then weird stuff started to happen.

The Cavs rallied to win. Then they won again. Then they won again in the Sweet Sixteen. And then, in the Elite Eight ...

Well. They were toast flambé in that one, down by two to Purdue after a missed free throw, Kehei Clark rummaging around back there beyond halfcourt with two seconds left.

And then, the nightmare Purdue fans will be reliving forever: Clark somehow having the presence of mind to heave the ball back downcourt to Mamadi Diakite, and Diakite throwing up an impossible moonshot over Matt Haarms as the buzzer sounded, and the ball impossibly dropping down the well to force overtime.

Where the Cavaliers won to get to Minneapolis.

Where, in the national semifinal, they were dead again, until Auburn's Samir Doughty fouled Kyle Guy as Guy released a last-gasp 3-point attempt with 0.6 seconds left, and Guy hit all three free throws to deliver Virginia to the national title game.

Where ...

Well.You know how this goes by now, right?

The Cavaliers had a 10-point lead on Texas Tech in the second half. Then they didn't. Then they were down three with 22 seconds left in regulation. Then Tech had a shot to end it with a second to play, but Braxton Key blocked it, and it was on to overtime.

Where the Cavaliers finally put the Red Raiders away.

I don't know if that's karma or destiny or just a heapin' helpin' of plain old garden variety luck. But something, or someone, decided Virginia was simply not going to lose this time.

That they did so in an outstanding championship game was only icing on the cake.

Which, of course, confounded all the wise guys, too. Remember how everyone said this was going to be a terrible championship game -- epically so, perhaps -- because both teams had the bad manners to play defense?

They couldn't have been more wrong. Great defense actually made this a great game, because to score you had to do amazing things. And people did, over and over, clutch shot after clutch shot arising from the usual suspects, spacing and court vision and ball movement.  It was damn beautiful basketball, at least to anyone who knew the difference between a back-cut and a paper cut.

And in the end, no one could say Virginia didn't earn it. Like, about four or five times over.