What a way to cap the best first day of March Madness I have ever seen, period. Watching BYU hang on in double OT to beat Florida wasn't even the best part of that game. That would the performance of one Jimmer Fredette, the player many said would be the story of the tournament.

Fredette did not disappoint, pouring in 37 points on an array of threes, teardrops, drives and jumpers. His effort was nothing short of special.

It was just the beginning, as Villanova and Robert Morris played a thriller that 'Nova probably should've lost, while Notre Dame and Old Dominion did the same, except that ODU won.

I thought that was enough, until my entire office erupted in cheers when Murray State drained a buzzer-beater to keep its dance alive. Those are the One Shining Moments this tournament is made of.

None, however, was much like the night cap.

Around 6:45 E.T., UW fans started piling into Penn Quarter Sports Tavern, a bar right off of Pennsylvania Ave by the National Archives. We were the fourth school on the pecking order, as Kentucky had a small contingent, Ohio, which uses the bar as its alumni headquarters, had most of the downstairs, and, you guessed it, Marquette, also of PQST alumni status, populated the entire upstairs.

But we persisted. Kentucky fans trickled out during a blowout. Ohio fans left in triumph after beating the hometown Georgetown Hoyas. And we took it over.

As Dwyane Wade's alma mater pushed the leader to 15, heads dropped. Things looked bleak. Then the defense picked up. The Huskies hit a few shots and got to the basket. Elston Turner, seemingly the man who makes the unheralded big shot every week, did just that. All of the sudden it was a tie game, Marquette ball, less than a minute.

Turnover.

Washington came down, ran the clock down and gave the ball to Quincy Pondexter, their senior leader. When he leaned in and banked that shot off the glass with 1.7 seconds left, I realized how many people were actually wearing purple in the bar. It was much like one big dance floor reacting to the song "Jump Around". The bar went crazy.

Thought the next few minutes were tense, we were able to go crazy again after winning a close game in the NCAA tournament, finally. It seems like Washington never wins those kinds of games, but this time was different. Will it be different Saturday too?

Don't ask Marquette. They'll probably pass on the gauntlet of UW fans they were forced to walk through as they left the bar.

More to come tomorrow. Go Huskies!