For years, Bo Ryan has won by being utterly boring. His Wisconsin teams never seem as athletically gifted as their opponents in any traditional sense; Ryan always recruits height and strength and big men that can defend, but rarely does he have the truly athletic wing player that can score from anywhere on the floor. (Alando Tucker was a rare exception, and even he relied more on wile and skill than on, say, long arms or leaping ability.)

What's more, Ryan's style -- the swing offense, and physical, 30-foot defense -- tends to result in some pretty slow games. Even when his games involve a lot of possessions, they don't feel fast. Wisconsin doesn't want to outrun you. They want to grind you into the ground. More often than not, they succeed.

Last night, though, Wisconsin didn't do much grinding. They won a game in the most NCAA Tournament-esque of fashions -- by trading final-minute offensive possessions with a team that would not miss from anywhere on the floor. It was a joy to watch. Even the highlights, not the game itself by a long margin, are a joy to watch.

If there is any way to describe Wisconsin's win, that was it -- it felt like an NCAA Tourney game. The Badgers led throughout the game, before Virginia Tech's A.D. Vassallo led a three-point infused comeback, scored 24 points in the second half, and brought the game to a tie at 72. And then Trevon Hughes hit the sort of full-court-dribble game-winner that you almost never see outside of the tourney, or at least never remember. It ... was ... awesome.

Anyway, I hope you saw it. The Big Ten-ACC (or ACC-Big Ten; they change the name every year, you know) is rarely as exciting as this.

Related: Big Ten Basketball, ACC Basketball, Cram Session