Bob Ryan tells this story about the famous UK/ Duke regional semi-final. As it’s soaring to its stunning conclusion, and the teams are trading the lead, he grabs a piece of paper. On it he writes, “Greatest game ever?” and passes it along to the fellow scribes sitting around him.

Curt Gowdy, once the voice of college hoops and the NCAA tourney, always said that the Louisville/ UCLA semi-final in ‘75 was “the greatest college basketball game ever played.”

Well, kids, add last night’s exhausting, exhilerating, entertaining and most excellent SIX OT masterpiece between Syracuse and UConn to the discussion.

Un - Buh - Liev - A - Ble !!!!!!!!

Orange 127, Huskies 117

Trust me folks — the Mrs. and I watched every twist and turn — it was a lot closer than that.

Every rebound was contested. Every ploy that could be devised was deployed by two Hall of Fame coaches. Every ounce of energy expended.

As my buddy Ben said when he called during the fourth — or was it the fifth? — OT, “This is the moment.”

There is no need for analysis. You can watch the replay on espn360.com. Be sure to give yourself four hours for the experience.

Two noteworthy observations. Free Throws were mighty important. The victor hit 40 of 51, the loser only 24 of 42. During the overtimes, Jonny Flynn and Paul Harris missed, if my foggy memory serves, only one between them. Yes. For the game, the duo was 29-30. That is not a typo. As a team, Syracuse was 23-26 from the line in the OTs. Under pressure and totally spent, they produced.

Syracuse never led after regulation until the OT #6. This is the second longest game ever played in Division I.

Eric Devendorf is still a punk.

One loyal reader has written to advise that James Breeding, one of the refs, is a local guy.

– Seedy K