So maddening

Dang, Jayhawks. You do like to make it interesting.

For the first few minutes Friday night, Kansas’s Midwest Regional semifinal with North Carolina State suspiciously resembled its third-round tussle with Purdue. The Wolfpack, like the Boilermakers, jumped out to an early lead and made the second-seeded Jayhawks sweat right to the finish. (The New York Times)

They play like a junior varsity team the first 10 minutes of the game and need the rest of the first half to chip away at the deficit. Then, just when you think they’ve taken control in the second half, they go turn the ball over five times and let North Carolina State outscore them 17-10 in the final 11 minutes. Yeesh!

Good thing Jeff Withey blocked a gazillion shots and North Carolina State actually allowed Thomas Robinson to score in the paint.

And Elijah Johnson. There he was again tonight with a clutch layup to seal the win for Kansas during the final seconds. Elijah is the man for KU right now.

With the win, of course, Kansas moves on to play Sunday against the vaunted North Carolina Tar Heels. For a trip to the Final Four.

My heart was pounding as the clocked ticked away on regulation of that Ohio-North Carolina game earlier tonight. But Ohio couldn't put the game away, and North Carolina got the best of them in overtime. ... It would have been glorious had Ohio pulled off the upset. Dare I say it, after the way North Carolina looked tonight, I think Kansas has a decent shot of winning Sunday.

There was a time tonight that I thought Indiana was going to pull off the upset of Kentucky, which also would have been glorious had it panned out. But it didn't.

So at this point Baby’s bracket is faring best of the three we filled out in our house. ... Not sure what it is about babys in the NCAA tournament. Phoebe's bracket outdid mine in 2008.

Phoebe’s bracket died last night when Wisconsin lost that heart-breaking thriller to Syracuse -- which Jim Boeheim and others called one of the best-played tournament games ever, in a tournament that's shaping up to be one for the ages. … The game was in the Badgers’ hands for the taking. Oh, it was tough to watch those final 20 seconds and the botched play on the last possession. But I give Syracuse a lot of credit. Watching them play that suffocating zone defense was something special.

Meanwhile, Kentucky and North Carolina are the only Final Four teams I have remaining in my bracket, and the Baylor-Kentucky matchup is the only regional final that I accurately predicted.

Good reads ...
a KU needs Robinson’s ‘A’ game in NCAA Tournament
a Thomas Robinson: Talent chiseled by hard knocks
a KU's Elijah Johnson is on course in life
a Fun-loving reporter Sager's wardrobe speaks loudly ... No TBS sports broadcast would be complete without him and his rainbow-colored suits.