When I started this feature, the most common question I heard from friends and readers was “Where do you have the Laettner shot?” Many thought it would be the number one play on the countdown, but instead it finds a home at the number two slot. Some may disagree with the choice, but I truly feel that there is one better buzzer beater — that’s called alliteration, kids — and we’ll check that one out tomorrow morning before the tournament kicks off.

If the Bryce Drew shot isn’t the most famous play in NCAA tournament history, this one has to be. Kentucky and Duke were locked in an epic battle from Philadelphia’s Spectrum, with a trip to the 1992 Final Four on the line. The game was so closely contested that 40 minutes of regulation weren’t enough, and after 4 minutes and 58 seconds of overtime, the two teams were still only separated by a point.

Duke had to travel the length of the floor with only 2.1 seconds to go, trailing 103-102. Grant Hill was triggering the inbounds completely unguarded, as the Wildcats decided to put all five defenders in the frontcourt. With no one to impede his vision or his heave, he threw a baseball pass that set up Laettner’s famous move…

The play became a prevalent pop-culture touchstone, with ESPN even tapping Chris Farley to spoof it for a commercial spot the following year. I loved it as a youngster and enacted my own versions of his clumsiness in the driveway, but it’s still just as funny now and deserves a second look.

At this point, you may be asking yourself how I can put the “Game of the Century” — as Farley screamed it — in only second place. But bear with me, dear readers. There’s still one more moment that we all know and love which had even greater implications than Laettner’s clutch shot. And it’ll be here on Longhorn Road Trip tomorrow morning, just in time to get you ready for 12 hours of basketball heaven.

We’re back in Austin after an absolutely exhausting weekend of basketball and an all-night drive home, and I’m ready to sleep for about 86.3 hours. But first let’s talk a little about the bracket.

While it was certainly disappointing to lose to Kansas in the conference tournament finals again, things worked out incredibly well. If Texas would have earned a 1-seed in Detroit by winning the game, perhaps that loss was the best possible outcome. Texas now has the route of Little Rock-Houston-San Antonio if they win their games, which is reassuringly similar to the Birmingham-San Antonio-New Orleans route that the 2003 Final Four team took.

Oddly enough, I’ve seen Austin Peay play in person this season, as Bear and I stopped in Nashville when we were traveling to the Michigan State game in December. The game was at Belmont that night, and the one memory that stands out most in my mind was how sloppy the Governors were with the ball, nearly choking away a 17 or 18-point lead to the Bruins late in the game. I’ll have to dig up my notes and media info from that one to give a more detailed Austin Peay preview later in the week.

The CBS storyline machine is already working overtime, as former Rick Barnes assistant Frank Haith could coach against his mentor if the Miami Hurricanes and Longhorns both win in the first round… Up in Omaha, it’s a match-up of super freshmen when Michael Beasley and O.J. Mayo tangle. And we also can’t forget that Mayo’s former high school teammate Bill Walker is also on K-State… If Winthrop pulls the first round upset, they could face Notre Dame in the second round, which would be a rematch of the first-round game in Spokane last season where the Eagles upset the Fighting Irish.

Is Wisconsin undervalued as a 3-seed? While they only lost four games this year, their SOS of 61 really paled in comparison to most of the other 2 and 3-seeds, so moving them up a line might have been a stretch. But when you consider the road awaiting Duke in this tournament, I’m not sure any of the 3-seeds would’ve wanted to be bumped up. If they get by Belmont, the Blue Devils have to face the winner of West Virginia and Arizona, which is one hell of a second-round test for a 2-seed. And if Duke does happen to survive to the second weekend, they get to fly out to Phoenix with a potential Elite Eight game against UCLA awaiting. I guess even the anointed Blue Devils can’t get the sweetheart treatment when they go 5-4 to finish the year.

Have any other thoughts or storylines I missed in this pre-dawn post? Leave them in the comments section below as we talk hoops all week long leading up to the tourney.