He's seen it first hand. Whether it was Oregon last year going on a run to win the Pac-12 Tournament, or even going as far back as 2006, Mike Hopkins witnessed Gerry McNamara's heroics as Syracuse became the first Big East team to win four games in the Big East Tournament to earn a ticket to the Big Dance.
With McNamara, it was a running one-handed three-pointer to beat Cincinnati at the buzzer, followed by an improbable upset of then number-one Connecticut. Wins over Georgetown and Pittsburgh followed, giving the Orange one of the craziest league tournament titles of all-time.
All it took was a spark. But currently at 3-13 in the league, the Washington Huskies need a lot more than a spark. They need an electrical storm the likes of which we have never seen before.
But it's been a crazy year, and to not expect more craziness would be even weirder, because it's named March Madness for a reason. And this particular group of Huskies has lost close games by nearly every way imaginable - much in the same way they won those same exact games a year earlier.
Who knows if that spark can come in the desert - the unlikeliest of places for Washington - but it has to come now, or never.
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