Gordon Hayward almost won it

If Gordon Hayward's shot at the buzzer had fallen, where would that shot had ranked in NCAA Tournament history? I say it would have been the greatest shot of all-time, passing the Derek Whittenberg-Lorenzo Charles play in the 1983 championship, the Laettner shot against Kentucky in '91 and whatever other shot you want to throw into the equation.

And you know what? When he fired from midcourt, I thought it was going in.

Great game, a capper to a really exciting tournament that was filled with close games and last second shots and upsets. It would have been really cool to see Butler win it for themselves and for all the mid-majors but Duke is a deserving champion.

Why on earth did Brian Zoubek intentionally miss that free throw? If he makes it, the worst that can happen for Duke is overtime. Had Hayward prayer been answered, Zoubek couldn't ever return to Durham. He would've had to drop out of school immediately and miss the team flight home.

And I'll repeat my theme for the night: Gus Johnson should have been calling that and everyone knows it.

UPDATE (8:51 pm): Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch sums up the final call by Jim Nantz perfectly on his Twitter feed: "As far as dramatic big-game calls go, there's Al Michaels with 'Do you believe in miracles? YES!' And then there's Jim Nantzzzzzzz."