Cinderella lives. VCU has shocked the college basketball world by defeating Kansas 71-61 to move on to the programs first ever Final Four appearance.
But it wasn't without difficulty. When Shaka Smart went into halftime, he told the CBS sideline reporter that he knew Kansas was going to make a run in the second half.
He was absolutely right. Kansas had a 12-0 run int he second half to get right back into the game. That run included coach Shaka Smart committing a technical foul after one of his players committed an offensive foul. It looked like it all was gong to unravel for the Rams, as they seemed to have no answer for a Jayhawk comeback.
But they responded with a run to extend their lead back to nine points. After a back and forth middle of the half, it was clear that this game was going to go down to the final minutes. It was a very defensive last ten minutes of the game, as each team had the ball, the opposing defense kept cranking up the pressure.
Then it got ridiculous. Joey Rodriguez made two ridiculous plays that led to scores to put VCU up by two possessions with less than two minutes to go.
From there, VCU was able to shut Kansas down defensively, and then it became a free throw shooting contest to cap it.
Back in 2006, George Mason made a remarkable run to the Final Four when they defeated UConn in overtime. However, this may be a bigger upset than that was, making this one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history.
No matter what happens from now on, Shaka Smart and company will now be remembered for a run perhaps even more remarkable than George Mason's.
The VCU Rams will now take on the Butler Bulldogs in the Final Four in a match up no one thought could ever happen.