First of all - great decision for my wife and I to just buy the tickets and go. We live here in Denver. This week was my 4th/5th time attending an NCAA tournament game. Every single one has been awesome. A truly great sports experience if you have the chance to go in the future. Definitely worth it, even when a little pricey. Got to take all 4 of our kids Thursday (tix were cheaper) and the two of us got to go enjoy a game last night just the two of us for the first time since 2011 when we were seniors at BYU.

Tonje was just ridiculous. Sure he got a couple favorable calls, but he single-handedly kept Wisconsin in that game. Unreal performance. In person, he wasn’t particularly athletic or fast, just smart. Got to his spots, took shots the moment he had an inch of space. Really high IQ basketball player. That last shot was tough. Not sure iso was the right call there after he torched BYU off screens all night, but still the guy Wisconsin wanted with the ball. And MAWOT MAG - talk about a high level defensive possession. Stayed with him, stayed straight up, didn’t leave his feet. My goodness that was defensive perfection in the one on one situation.

Not sure how much was shown on TV, but Wisconsin had more “get under your skin” type of stuff both during play and after whistles then any team I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t call it cheap, but understandable why BYU players were getting chippy. It was essentially an entire roster of Trevin Knell’s (I kid I kid… kind of). Because of it I feel like the refs lost control of the game. They tried to take it back, but that just ended up making them look bad and making the game about 20 minutes longer than it should have been.

The thing that stood out most live was the chemistry. The team plays really well together really regardless of who is out there. Speaks volumes about KY as a coach in my book. The team is bought in and understands what they want to do.

Lastly - I shouldn’t have done it, but I let the Wisconsin fans behind me get to me. They didn’t have anything clever or new. Just the usual religious insults (Brigham Young was a bad guy, how are they so happy when they can’t have sex?, etc.) and bad fandom (Wisconsin committed no fouls the whole night, every BYU player should have fouled out by the 10 minute mark). But it got to me. My fault, I know. I felt instantly guilty for turning around and being exactly the kind of fan they were being as time expired. Moral of the story - it’s not worth it. Should have just enjoyed the win.

That said - it’s a win. Go Cougs!