"Can you believe?"
It's ironic how a college sport so wrapped in recruiting fraud and academic chicanery — yes, one-and-dones ooze chicanery — can through its performance make everyone forget the wayward side.
But every March when the ref tosses up the basketball, we overlook all that ugliness spilling under the table. Truth is, through two "can you believe" weekends in this NCAA tournament, we have only infrequently witnessed outcomes that didn't simultaneously lift the spirit and require head scratching.
"Can you believe?" is the opening sentence of conversation nearly every morning.
Like, can you believe Kansas State, 0-7 this season against the three top Big 12 foes, bumped tradition-rich Kentucky on Thursday with leading scorer Dean Wade injured, explosive Xavier Sneed in foul trouble and coach Bruce Weber employing a tiny lineup to finish off the elongated favorites, 61-58.