ESPN

Houston Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin, the best player to ever come out of Harvard, tweeted the following after his alma mater pulled off an upset of historic proportions last night in the NCAA tournament:

YYYYYEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!! HARVARD winssss!!! hahahahhah i told you.... #threepointgoggles #bracketbusters twitter.com/JLin7/status/3…

— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) March 22, 2013

SALT LAKE CITY -- A year ago, Harvard guard Laurent Rivard was in awe just seeing the midcourt NCAA logo; after all, the Crimson hadn’t made the tournament in six decades.

So helping the program to its first tournament victory -- a 68-62 win over No. 3 New Mexico that marked the biggest seed upset by an Ivy League team?

That, he said, was indescribable. Although he tried: “You imagine it … it’s something everyone dreams about,” Rivard said after scoring 17 points and going 5-for-9 from 3-point range, “but it’s a different feeling when it actually becomes real.”

The win seemed improbable for a plethora of reasons: The Lobos (29-6) were bigger (7-footer Alex Kirk finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds), and more seasoned by playing in a conference many considered one of the nation’s toughest. Heck, some even thought UNM was robbed by the tournament committee when it didn’t earn higher than a No. 3 seed.

But Harvard countered with a four-guard lineup that was sharpshooting (52.4 percent overall, including 8-for-18 from 3-point land) and that frustrated Lobos leading scorer Kendall Williams into a forgettable, 1-for-6 night. Led by their tallest starter, 6-foot-8 Kenyatta Smith, the Crimson also aggressively banged with Kirk and 6-9 Cameron Bairstow (15 points, nine rebounds).

“We knew they were going to be tough,” Smith said. “We just had to be confident.”

And they were, particularly down the stretch.

New Mexico, trailing for most of the game, took a 53-52 lead with 6:26 left on yet another Kirk inside move. But Harvard, even with its three bigger guys in foul trouble, countered with a 7-0 run -- beginning with another 3 from Rivard and including a jumper from guard Wesley Saunders (18 points) -- to rebuild its cushion. The Lobos never got closer than four after that.

“For me to see the composure that we had is meaningful to me as a coach,” Harvard’s Tommy Amaker said. “We had the lead. We lost the lead. We had to make plays and to have an answer each time when things got really tight there. We had to make pressure free throws. … But we didn’t wilt or cave in.”

Somehow, the Crimson (20-9) didn’t seem to feel the pressure of being a No. 14 seed on the brink of making history.

“I was just playing in the moment, enjoying the moment,” freshman point guard Siyani Chambers said. “… It felt like, just getting here, was our night.”

Indeed, not long ago it seemed like a long shot that the Crimson would make the tournament at all -- much less advance to the round of 32.

First there were the offseason academic problems that led the team’s co-captains -- Kyle Casey and Brandyn Curry -- to withdraw from school.

And although those departures gave Chambers (5 points, 7 assists in 40 minutes Thursday) the opportunity to develop more quickly, the team wasn’t quite the runaway favorite it might have been to dominate the Ivy League -- as evidenced by back-to-back road losses at Princeton and Penn in early March.

Yet the Crimson endured. And prevailed.

And forget about last year’s awe-inspiring NCAA logo. Now, there’s a new daydream: the Sweet Sixteen.

“Before this, we wanted to be the Cinderella story,” Smith said. “And I guess now, we kind of are.”

It was a scene that bordered on the bizarre. Moments after his team swept Merrimack in the Hockey East quarterfinals, just before he left the ice, Boston University coach Jack Parker was hugging the on-ice officials. Most notably, he embraced Tim Bennedetto, the long-time Hockey East referee who -- like many referees -- had sparred with Parker over the years, sometimes heatedly.

"They all know that I'm nuts on the bench sometimes. It's nothing personal," said Parker, who announced his retirement on March 11. "When the game is over, the game is over. I think these guys give their best effort. They're trying to do as good a job as they can for the teams on the ice, and for the most part they do. And if they don't, I might comment on it.

"I've known Timmy since he was a rookie in the league, and he's been a terrific referee for all these years. I've always respected his work," he said. "I might be yelling at him this weekend, who knows? But I think he's a sincere guy who goes out there every night trying to give you his best effort."

That moment speaks volumes about the tight-knit college hockey community, and the mutual respect between programs that personifies Hockey East. However, fans shouldn't anticipate any pleasantries once the puck drops for the league semifinals this Friday at Boston's TD Garden. What they can expect is every team's best effort, given that the top four seeds in the tightest league race in memory -- with only two points separating first place from fifth -- are playing.

The two semifinals present a number of interesting contrasts, almost as noteworthy as the sight of Jack Parker bear-hugging a referee. The marquee match, signified by the late start, has longtime rivals second-seed Boston College (22-10-4) and third-seed Boston University (20-15-2) squaring off.

"It's a little unusual that we haven't seen [BC] in so long. It seems like a long time ago when we last faced them in a home-and-home in early December," said Parker, the result of BU getting ousted from February's Beanpot Tournament by Northeastern. "In general, I think that both teams are playing pretty well and both teams usually bring out the best in each other. I know that the two games we played in December were both pretty good hockey games."

Parker is on borrowed time, as his Terriers are a classic bubble team in terms of the NCAA field of 16. While the Terriers still might squeak into the NCCAs even if they lose on Friday, Parker doesn't want to take any chances.

"Our situation is, win and continue, lose and go home," he said. "BC's situation is not quite the same. If they lose, they wait to see where they go in the national tournament. We have to win this game to get in the national tournament, and maybe even win the tournament to get in the national tournament. So we have a little more at stake."

The Eagles, meanwhile, are looking for their fourth straight Hockey East championship, and sixth in the last eight years. Their fourth straight trip to the NCAAs is a lock, due to their No. 4 national ranking. But they'll have to play Friday's semifinal without their own legendary coach, Jerry York, behind the bench. York suffered a second detached retina of his right eye last weekend, and underwent surgery on Monday.

However, associate head coaches Mike Cavanaugh and Greg Brown said this week that they expect the Eagles to adapt, particularly since York lost time earlier this winter with the same condition. York also missed BC's 4-1 quarterfinal-clinching win over Vermont last Saturday.

"If we had not gone through it earlier in the year, it probably would have been a lot more to handle," said Cavanaugh. "But since we had experienced it with the UNH weekend and with UMass and Northeastern, we had a pretty good idea of how it was going to work and how we handled things. I thought for the most part, it was as seamless as it could be on Saturday."

Brown agreed. "Especially for the kids, since they had all done that before, they didn't miss a beat," he said. "The seniors picked right up and told the other guys that we'll be fine, and they had a great attitude going into the game. There wasn't a lot of confusion at all because it had happened once before."

The Eagles also have a goaltender who has been there before. Unlike the other semifinalists, which are all starting freshman goaltenders, the Eagles are countering with senior Parker Milner (2.52 goals against average, .915 save percentage), the reigning MVP of the NCAA tournament.

"It certainly helps him that he's played in that building before, and he's played well in that building," said Cavanaugh of Milner. "But when it comes down to Friday, it's going to be what goaltender executes best, and what team plays the most solid in front of him. That's going to be the biggest determining factor."

The Terriers will counter with Sean Maguire (2.59 GAA, .924 save percentage), a freshman from British Columbia who has looked like the second coming of Kieran Millan -- the freshman goaltender who led BU to a national championship in 2009 -- since assuming full-time duties in net. In the quarterfinals against Merrimack, Maguire raised his game to another level, with a .958 save percentage and 1.50 GAA, including a 30-save shutout in the opening-game victory.

He will have to stay hot, given BC's firepower. Up front, Boston College is again loaded, boasting three 40-plus point scorers and the nation's second-ranked offense, tallying 3.44 goals a game. By comparison, BU has produced 3.08 goals a game, good for 17th nationally, and led by freshman Danny O'Regan (14 goal, 22 assists, 36 points) and rejuvenated junior Matt Nieto (18-17-35).

"He played pretty well most of the first half but he wasn't putting the puck in the net," said Parker of Nieto. "He was squeezing his stick too hard and was looking for goals. He really wasn't playing the type of game that he's got to play to be effective for us. Now, all of a sudden, he's one of the top goal-scorers in the league and he's one of the top pointmen. His line is as good of a line as there is in college hockey with O'Regan and [Evan] Rodrigues. I think a big reason for that has been the re-emergence of Matt Nieto as a star in this league."

The Eagles will be led by sophomore Johnny Gaudreau (20-29-49), the MVP of last year's Hockey East tournament and the league's leading scorer this past season, as well as Steven Whitney (25-18-43) and captain Pat Mullane (16-25-41). But both squads have gotten production throughout their respective line-ups through the second half of the season, which makes handicapping the 262nd meeting between the teams a difficult task.

"Our third line is playing much better right now and I noticed the same thing holds true for BC's third line," said Parker. "The [Patrick] Brown line has been chipping in with goals and playing really well. I think it's probably for the same reason; they're playing much more now. They're getting more ice time, they've earned that ice time and they're more comfortable in the swing of things."

Though BC took the season series, two games to one, none of the three coaches expect past results to have any bearing on Friday's outcome.

"They always seem to be playing well when they're playing us, so that's not really a concern of ours," said BC's Cavanaugh. "I know that they've won four in a row. They are rolling along here, and playing well as a team. But when they play Boston College, they could have lost four in a row, and we're still going to get their best game. The old adage is -- and it's a cliché -- 'You can throw the records out the window when these two teams play.' I think it is evident from our past games, and I think it will hold true this weekend. You're going to see the best from both teams on Friday night."

The Hockey East semifinals are Friday, with the opening match (5 p.m. ET) pitting two of the best young minds in Hockey East. Lowell's Norm Bazin and Providence's Nate Leaman each arrived at their respective campuses two years ago in the hopes of turning things around. And they did, in a hurry.

Both squads made the league playoffs last year, with Providence edging the River Hawks in a three-game series. The two squads were at it again this year, with Lowell taking the season series, 2-1, but splitting the final home-and-home series of the season, with each team winning on the road.

"I'm not sure this time of year we need too many reminders, but it never hurts to remind them of some of the failures of the past," said Bazin, when asked about last year's early exit from the Hockey East tournament. "Our focus is on playing well in the next hockey game. This time of year, all you have is the next game and we're focused on making this our best possible game."

With their quarterfinal win over Lowell last season, the Friars got to TD Garden and the Hockey East semifinals only to run into a BC buzzsaw, losing 4-2.

"As far as experience goes, it's something we are going to talk about today in the locker room," said Leaman earlier this week. "There is no doubt that our team, last year against BC [in the semifinal], was not focused in the first five minutes of the game. I think we gave up a break away and a 2-on-0 and they scored a goal in the first five minutes. It's something we are obviously going to talk about. Nothing helps that more than experience."

Coincidentally, the two squads also have two of the best young goaltender's in the league -- a pair of freshmen -- with Lowell's Connor Hellebuyck (1.49 GAA, .944 save percentage) and the Friars' John Gillies (2.08 GAA, .931 save percentage) between the pipes.

"Jon consistently gives you a chance to win every game. I think that's the biggest thing," said Leaman. "There's no doubt he has been our best player over the course of the year."

Hellebuyck, meanwhile, has simply been the league's best netminder, statistically speaking, since establishing himself as the team's No. 1 netminder. Bazin said his team's turnaround after a rocky start can be directly attributed to the goaltending of Hellebuyck and Doug Carr, and a renewed commitment to defensive on every player's part.

"We weren't that pleased with our special teams" against Maine in the quarterfinals, said Bazin. "The nice thing about hockey is that when you're full of yourself, you watch the videotape and then you're humbled. It's definitely important for us to keep improving, and special teams is one of those areas in which we're looking to improve."

The River Hawks are hoping to make the Hockey East finals for the first time since 2009, when they were edged by Boston University, 1-0. The Terriers went on to win the national championship, while the River Hawks went home. This year, the River Hawks, ranked fifth nationally, will return to the NCAA tournament. Providence, however, must win its next two games and capture the Hockey East flag to get the league's automatic bid.

"We have been a better road team in the second half than I feel we have been a home team," said Leaman. "We had success against Lowell and Boston College in their own rinks. If anything, I like the fact we are on the road and in a different building with a young team. I think it helps us focus better."

The Crimson have been here before (even if "here" is actually a new arena in a new city in a new state against a new opponent) and they're hoping that helps.

Playing Vanderbilt in the second round of the NCAA tournament in Albuquerque, N.M., last season provided experience that could prove valuable against New Mexico in the second round of the NCAA tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah, this season. At least that's the idea.

"I thought we did a terrific job [in the Big Dance] last year, being the first time in so many years," Tommy Amaker said in a conference call Monday morning.

The Crimson started slowly before rallying in the second half to make it close late against Vanderbilt, getting to within five points of the Commodores before falling 79-70.

But the roster Harvard takes into the tourney in 2013 is vastly different than the one it took into the tourney in 2012. Four-fifths of the starting five is gone: Oliver McNally and Keith Wright both graduated, and Kyle Casey and Brandyn Curry both withdrew from school after being implicated in an academic cheating scandal.

Laurent Rivard is the lone remaining starter, one of three current Crimson players who played more than 10 minutes in the loss to the Commodores last season. (Rivard played 25 minutes, Christian Webster played 20 and Wesley Saunders played 11.)

Nine of the 14 players on the Harvard roster were in the program for the trip west last season, but besides Rivard, Webster and Saunders only Steve Moundou-Missi (six minutes) and Jonah Travis (one minute) actually set foot on the floor during the game.

"I think we'll just be a little bit more confident, a little bit more relaxed," Webster said. "When you go into this tournament, it's nerve-wracking when you come to the stadium and you see the big, blue [NCAA] logo and you see the TV cameras and you know that this is what everybody in America is watching. It's a big deal.

"And last year I think we were a little nervous. … I think that will help us just focus on the game and just play ball."

"When you have a point of reference there is a different comfort level that I think players and people adjust to," Amaker said, referring to the past tournament experience. "What does that mean? You're not really sure."

Star point guard Siyani Chambers, a freshman from Golden Valley, Minn., who took the Ivy League by storm on his way to rookie of the year honors, obviously wasn't there for last season's run. It'll all be new for him, and how he reacts to the situation will go a long way toward determining Harvard's chances.

When Chambers plays well, Harvard plays well. When Chambers struggles (as he did in losses at St. Joseph's, at UConn and at Memphis in the nonconference schedule), Harvard struggles.

Will his teammates' time in the tourney in 2011-12 help him on Thursday? That remains to be seen.

"This year knowing what to expect, and [having] kinda been through it once before will certainly allow them to be a little bit more relaxed about the environment and the situation," Amaker said. "Now does that mean we're gonna play perfectly? I doubt that.

"But certainly it gives us a point of reference that we hope will serve us well."

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

Siyani Chambers is not easily rattled.

The rookie point guard immediately was thrust into the starting lineup this season, thanks to the unexpected loss of would-be senior cocaptain Brandyn Curry to a widespread academic cheating scandal at Harvard. No matter -- all Chambers did was dominate the Ivy League, earning rookie of the year honors.

All he did was finish first in the Ancient Eight in assists (5.7 per game, 1.6 more than Ivy player of the year Ian Hummer of Princeton), fourth in free throw percentage (81.9), fifth in 3-point shooting percentage (44.0) and sixth in scoring (12.9 points per game).

Oh, and the 6-foot, 170-pound freshman hardly rested all season long -- playing the most minutes per game (37.8) in the Ivy League.

So perhaps it’s no surprise that Chambers finds himself in the spotlight as Harvard prepares to take on New Mexico in the NCAA tournament on Thursday in Salt Lake City (9:50 p.m. ET, TNT).

On Tuesday, ESPN.com’s Myron Medcalf named Chambers one of 10 mid-major stars who could bust brackets come game time.

That puts Chambers, a Golden Valley, Minn., native, alongside the likes of Saint Mary’s Matthew Dellavedova and Creighton’s Doug McDermott, names known throughout the college hoops nation.

But wait, there’s more.

ESPN Insider Chad Ford broke down the West Region from the perspective of NBA draft decision-makers, and had this to say about Tommy Amaker’s point guard: “He’s not Jeremy Lin, but Chambers has been awesome as a freshman.”

And true to form so far, Chambers appears to be taking this latest experience in stride.

While his teammates sat at the podium Sunday night for the post-Selection Show news conference, near-constant smiles on their faces, the rookie had his game face on.

Then he was asked if this first year in Cambridge -- filling a huge role for the team, helping deliver a third straight Ivy title and a second straight NCAA berth -- could have gone any better.

“I don’t think so,” Chambers said, with a small laugh.

“In high school and coming up, you’re always watching this stuff and you’re always like, ‘Man, I wish I could be a part of it,’” he said. “And to finally be here and hear our team’s name called, it’s just very, very, very exciting for me personally and I know it’s very exciting for the team, as well.”

And if the past proves to be prologue with Chambers, the excitement’s only beginning.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

An odd thing happens once the Selection Sunday-fueled adrenalin rush wears off and teams get down to the business of preparing to play tournament basketball: Many teams realize they know next to nothing about their opponent.

That’s what happened to the Harvard Crimson on Sunday night, when they found out they would be facing the New Mexico Lobos on Thursday in Salt Lake City (9:50 p.m. ET, TNT).

Not only have the two schools never met on the hardwood, but hardly any of the Crimson have even seen the Lobos play (Tommy Amaker joked Sunday night that he hoped his players were studying late at night, when their upcoming opponent would’ve been playing in Mountain West action, rather than watching TV).

And so while the athletic department staff scrambled to book flights and lodging for the tournament, the coaching staff began the mad dash to tipoff by searching for game film and scouring scouting reports.

On Monday morning, Amaker participated in a conference call with reporters. He’d seen a few game films on Steve Alford’s team in the hours since the announcement, and had a little better idea exactly what the Crimson will be up against.

“[The Lobos are] a big, strong team. A talented team,” he said. “A team that may not be in one of the bigger, higher-profile name conferences, has kind of gone under the radar nationally in some circles. But I think basketball people recognize a team that has won 29 games and has won their league, and has had a sensational season.”

He didn’t stop there.

“The thing that comes through loud and clear right away is that (1) they’re talented, (2) that they have great balance and (3) that they’re big,” Amaker said. “They’re a team that has a lot of size up front. And when I say balance, they have a number of guys that can score, they can score in and they can score out. … They have a lot of confidence in what they do.”

According to ESPN Insider’s Charlie Creme, Alford’s team relies on a lot of motion and getting to the free-throw line on offense, and on defending well without fouling on defense. Led by the 2012-13 Mountain West Player of the Year, Kendall Williams (14.0 PPG, 5.0 ASG), the Lobos finished the season ranked No. 15 in the country and reached as high as No. 11.

Every member of their starting five is 6-foot-3 or taller: Alex Kirk, 7-feet; Cameron Bairstow, 6-9; Tony Snell, 6-7; Williams, 6-4; Hugh Greenwood, 6-3.

Harvard’s tallest player, meanwhile, is Michael Hall, a 6-foot-10 freshman who has played 17 minutes in his college career. And Siyani Chambers and Wesley Saunders, arguably the Crimson’s best players, stand just 6 feet and 6-foot-5.

The Crimson will have their work cut out for them defending the paint and trying to hold their own on the glass (where the Lobos thrive). But there are areas in which they may be able to do damage.

Specifically, the areas behind the 3-point arc.

While Alford’s team defends very well inside the arc, it struggles to defend outside of it -- where the Lobos rank 240th in the country in 3-point percentage defense, according to KenPom.com.

Harvard, meanwhile, ranks seventh in the country in 3-point shooting, finishing at 40.1 percent as a team. The Crimson are led from behind the line by Laurent Rivard, who hit 74 three-pointers in 2012-13, tying a school record, and led the charge in the tourney last season with a 6-for-7 showing on 3s in the 79-70 loss to Vanderbilt.

And though there’s still a lot to learn and a game plan to construct, the Crimson know a great deal more now about the challenge awaiting them than they did Sunday night.

“They’re not 29-5, a 3-seed and the champions of their conference for nothing,” Amaker said. “This is one of the better teams in the country.”

One the Crimson and their fans will be much better acquainted with come Thursday night.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

As the region braces for yet another late-winter storm, enviously huddling around TV sets tuned to sunny Florida for split-squad Red Sox spring training games, quietly another sure sign of spring approaches.

Boston College starts spring football practice Tuesday, one day before the equinox officially marks the start of the season.

Originally, new head coach Steve Addazio had planned to get his team on the field late last month. But Nemo had other ideas.

The snow storm that dropped more than 2 feet of powder on parts of Massachusetts damaged the bubble that BC erects on the field at Alumni Stadium each winter, pushing the start of spring practice back from Feb. 28.

The bubble has subsequently been repaired and inspected for safety, and a new schedule has been drawn up.

So the fiery Addazio and his staff will lead the Eagles onto the field for the first time at 3:15 Tuesday afternoon, beginning the first of 15 spring sessions. The Eagles have three scrimmages scheduled -- on April 6, April 13 and April 20, with the last one the annual spring game.

NCAA rules specify teams can have 15 spring practices, the first two of which must be non-contact. After those days, 12 of the 13 remaining sessions can involve contact and eight of those 12 can involve tackling.

BC will practice five times in the bubble before it is scheduled to be taken down over the Easter break (March 28-April 1), with the rest of the sessions planned for the open air in Alumni.

Also on the slate for the Eagles is the annual pro day for the team’s potential draft prospects. Linebacker Nick Clancy, left tackle Emmett Cleary, tight end Chris Pantale and right tackle John Wetzel are all scheduled to work out for scouts in the bubble at Alumni on Wednesday.

There’s a lot of ground work to do between Tuesday and the official beginning of the 2013 season, Aug. 31 versus Villanova. Addazio and new coordinators Ryan Day and Don Brown need to install new systems and adapt to the personnel at their disposal. Players like QB Chase Rettig have to learn yet another philosophy while building relationships with a mostly new coaching staff.

A new foundation must be built if the 2013 edition of the Eagles is to improve on the 2-10 disaster that was the 2012 version.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

ESPN.com's Joe Lunardi previews the road ahead for Harvard, the West Region's No. 14 seed.

Their hopes of dancing in the NCAA tournament dashed, the University of Massachusetts and Northeastern will have to settle for playing in the NIT.

UMass, which made the NIT's final four last season, earned a No. 2 seed in this year's tournament and will open play by hosting No. 7 seed Stony Brook on Wednesday (7:15 p.m., ESPN3).

The Minutemen (21-11) fell to VCU, 71-62, in the Atlantic 10 semifinals. Stony Brook (24-7) ran away with the America East regular-season title, but was upset by Albany, 61-59, in the conference tournament semis.

Northeastern (20-12), the regular-season champs of the CAA but losers to James Madison in the conference tournament final, are a No. 8 seed and will face top seed Alabama on Tuesday (9 p.m., ESPN2).

Alabama (21-12) tied for second in the SEC, which had a rare down year. The Tide have lost four of their last seven games, including a 61-51 defeat to Florida in the SEC semifinals.

CLICK HERE to see the full NIT bracket.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Anticipation can be a strange thing.

Waiting for something to come, good or bad, happy or sad, you can be filled with joy or drowned in dread.

For Harvard on Sunday, there was no question -- something good (a berth in the Big Dance) was coming. But as the names were ticked off and the lines of the bracket filled up, bit by bit, the feeling built.

When will our name be called? Where will we go? Who will we play?

After all those questions finally had been answered (at approximately 6:32 p.m. ET; Salt Lake City; New Mexico Lobos), Harvard coach Tommy Amaker told a story that showed the wait had weighed on them all.

As the coach and four of his players -- cocaptains Christian Webster and Laurent Rivard, and young stars Wesley Saunders and Siyani Chambers -- climbed the Murr Center stairs on their way to the post-selection show news conference, Amaker had a question for his still-giddy guys.

“Did you guys think they forgot about us?” the coach asked.

The answer?

“They seemed to be very confident that we were going to get our name called,” Amaker said, with a smile.

Confident or not, the wait felt just as long for them as it did for the fans who gathered to cheer them on.

“I mean, it was nerve-wracking to wait that long to hear our names called,” Saunders said. “But after it was called, it was a great relief. It was just a culmination of all the hard work that all of us have put together, and [of] just overcoming all the obstacles that we faced this year. It was a great feeling.”

One worth waiting for.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- It was a day of celebration, of continuing a tradition passed down from one generation to the next.

A day to wear the bright color so closely associated with the group of people being honored.

Oh, and it was also St. Patrick's Day.

In Cambridge on Sunday, the crimson-clad Harvard faithful gathered for what is fast becoming an annual event: A viewing party in the Murr Center's Hall of History for the NCAA tournament selection show.

For the second straight year, Tommy Amaker's team assembled before flat screen TVs, velvet ropes setting them off from the crowd, to see who and where they would play in the postseason.

There were a few anxious moments, the crowd letting out an audible sigh of relief when No. 2 seed Ohio State was matched with No. 15 seed Iona in the Dayton regional, as the names were called and the brackets filled up. And then there was a roar.

After landing a No. 14 seed and a matchup with No. 3 seed New Mexico in Salt Lake City, the Crimson and their fans let loose. It had been a long 30 minutes, but now they knew who their dancing partner would be.

A few minutes later, the Crimson talked about what this accomplishment means to them, considering all they’ve been through this season.

“We’re proud to have an opportunity to represent our conference and our institution,” Amaker said. “I can’t say enough about these guys and what they’ve been able to accomplish this year.”

After going 65 years between its first NCAA appearance and its second, Harvard now has made two in a row -- and if not for a Princeton buzzer-beater in an Ivy League playoff game in 2011, the streak would be at three.

This season's success might be the most surprising. Amaker lost his two would-be senior captains, Kyle Casey and Brandyn Curry, to an academic cheating scandal prior to the season; both withdrew from school to preserve their eligibility while the process works its way out. Combined with the graduation of four-year vets Oliver McNally and Keith Wright, the mantle was left on the shoulders of youngsters such as Wesley Saunders and Siyani Chambers.

In the preseason, Harvard was picked to finish third in the Ivy League. Then conference play began, and the Crimson proved they were still a force to be reckoned with in the Ancient Eight. Until a late-season hiccup (back-to-back losses at Princeton and Penn) threw a wrench into the machine, it seemed the young Crimson were headed for a wire-to-wire Ivy win. But rather than wallow in self-pity after the bad weekend, the Crimson came home and took care of business against Columbia and Cornell (and got help from Princeton, which lost at Yale and at Brown) to seal the Ivy title and NCAA berth.

“I think it means a lot,” Amaker said of making back-to-back tournaments, despite the change in leadership on the court. “For us to have our name called on Selection Sunday, it’s very meaningful. I think it’s certainly something I’m sure that will sink in with us at some point, but we certainly know it’s taken a lot to get to this point.

“We’re proud of it, we were proud last year. And if you can continually become a contender in your conference -- and certainly we’ve been fortunate to win it now for three years and two years to be involved in the NCAA tournament -- I just think it’s an incredibly impressive few years for Harvard basketball.”

For Christian Webster, a co-captain and Harvard’s lone senior, this berth meant even more than last season’s did.

“I’d say so,” Webster said. “Just overcoming all the adversity we had to go through this season -- that’s one of the greatest feelings you can ever have, is overcoming adversity. And us being able to get to this point, with no one thinking we can get here -- it’s just an awesome feeling.”

For the second straight season, the Crimson are headed west for the Big Dance. Last season the Crimson, a No. 12 seed, flew to Albuquerque, N.M., to take on No. 5 seed Vanderbilt.

In the immediate aftermath of the selection show, the Crimson said they didn’t know much about the Lobos (29-5, Mountain West champions). Most of the players at the post-show news conference have never been to Utah (Laurent Rivard said he had, but not since the sixth grade).

They’re not sure when they’ll be leaving for Salt Lake City; plans might be complicated by an approaching winter storm.

But as Amaker said, these are the problems they were hoping to have. And on Sunday night, they were just happy to be back in this position for another year, with another group.

“With the youth of our team, the way these guys have responded -- accepting different roles, stepping forward, young guys stepping in,” Amaker said. “You can’t say enough about what this team has done for this season.”

This Harvard team has done enough to ensure that its season isn’t done quite yet.

There’s still dancing to do.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

BOSTON -- On Friday, the Hockey East championships move to TD Garden with a pair of semifinals that couldn't be more different in terms of familiarity.

The first pits league regular-season champion UMass-Lowell against fourth-seeded Providence in a rematch of last year's quarterfinal matchup, won by the Friars. But this marks the first time in 12 years that both the River Hawks and Friars are in the Hockey East semifinals.

The second match is a classic confrontation, with second-seeded Boston College, currently ranked fifth in the country, taking on third-seeded Boston University in what could be coach Jack Parker's final game after 40 years at the helm of the Terriers program.

"The only team that wins the last game of the year is the national champion," Parker said. "Everybody else loses their last game of the year. And when it happens, it's like somebody shot you in the head because you're going so hard. It's 24/7 from September to that last game. And when that last game is over, there's no practice tomorrow."

Providence punched its ticket to the Garden with a hard-fought 3-2 win over fifth-seeded New Hampshire on Sunday, taking the quarterfinal series two games to one. The result forces the Wildcats to wait and hope that an NCAA invite comes their way after they dropped to a tie for seventh in the national PairWise rankings.

The game turned on two Providence power-play goals, scored by Tim Schaller and Nick Saracino, over a 44-second span in the second period, enabling the Friars to reverse a one-goal deficit and take a 3-2 lead. The freshman Saracino, who notched the game-winner, has proven to be a Wildcat killer this season, scoring seven of his 11 goals against UNH. Friars freshman goaltender John Gillies (30 saves) made the lead stand, knocking out 11 shots in the final frame.

UNH, the nation's leading penalty-killing unit (91 percent), couldn't solve the Providence power play. In six games against UNH, the Friars' power-play unit scored six of the 13 power-play goals that the Wildcats surrendered over the season.

Meanwhile, UMass-Lowell, currently ranked No. 6 in the country, dispatched Maine in a two-game quarterfinal sweep. The River Hawks took the regular-season series against the Friars, 2-1, highlighted by a 4-1 win in the season finale.

In Friday's nightcap, BC will take on the Terriers for the 262nd time in their storied rivalry. The teams first met in the 1917-18 season, and since that game, BU has forged a slight edge, going 128-116-17. However, in the games that Jerry York has been behind the Eagles bench since 1994, the squads are absolutely deadlocked, 37-37-7. While BC is assured a spot in the NCAA field of 16, the Terriers need to win the Hockey East championship to guarantee their spot.

"I think it's nice that we get to play them, " Parker said after his squad swept Merrimack on Saturday. "BC has always brought out the best in us, and vice versa. So it should be a real great college hockey game. We can't end their season, but I'd like to extend ours by getting to the final, that's for sure."

The Eagles, the defending national champions, are looking for their fourth straight Hockey East tournament crown. York's participation in Friday's semifinal, however, depends on the outcome of his eye surgery on Monday, and how quick his recovery is. York suffered a second detached retina of his right eye since January. Still, he left little doubt about the respect he has for his longtime adversary and friend.

"Jack and I have enjoyed a relationship that has stood the test of time," York said upon hearing of Parker's retirement announcement. "It goes back to our high school days and dates back 50 years. We've competed against one another and we've coached against one another for a long, long time. There have been so many unbelievable games that have provided countless memories for the both of us."

Expect another memorable match on Friday.

The brackets are out and Ivy League champ Harvard, a No. 14 seed in the West, will open play against No. 3 New Mexico on Thursday in Salt Lake City.

We'll have more on the Crimson's dance card later, but for now you can check out the full bracket HERE.

BOSTON -- When BU coach Jack Parker announced his retirement Monday, he got a laugh from the assembled crowd with his characterization of the Terriers' hockey program.

"I always talk about BU being a family," said Parker. "I've got two daughters, and 226 sons. The team I have right now are my youngest sons. And I'm not having any more children."

Those "youngest sons" made sure their coach would have another game at the helm, and another trip to the TD Garden, by knocking the Merrimack Warriors out of the Hockey East playoffs with a scintillating 5-3 victory before 3,043 at Agganis Arena on Saturday. But the Terriers (20-15-2) did it the hard way, three times fighting back from one-goal deficits to finally take the lead for good in the third period.

"I thought everybody played hard," said Parker. "I thought both teams played really smart hockey, real intense hockey. You could tell that Merrimack knew this was it for them. They had to get going. They put 42 shots on net, 20 in the second period. They kept coming at us all night long."

For Merrimack (15-17-6), the loss was the fifth straight to BU, and a bitter pill for coach Mark Dennehy despite the improved play of his squad.

"I thought we played much better than we did last night [a 3-0 loss]," said Dennehy. "We gave ourselves a chance to win. Some great efforts by a lot of people. Sam [Marotta, Merrimack's goaltender] made some really big saves when he needed to. It just wasn't enough."

The win -- Parker's last on the rink that bears his name -- gave the third-seeded Terriers a sweep of their quarterfinal series against the Warriors, and a date with archrival Boston College in the league semifinals on Friday. Parker is seeking his eighth league championship, and 25th invitation to the NCAA tournament, during his swan song. And although Parker holds a 48-38-7 record all-time over his longtime rival, BC coach Jerry York, the two giants of college hockey are dead even, 37-37-7, since York returned to The Heights.

"It was kind of weird tonight," said Parker. "This is my last game in a BU rink. It hasn't dawned on me. It didn't dawn on me in the press conference [Monday], because I knew I had to go to practice the next day. It was weird. But it was nice to win."

The Warriors came out intent on spoiling the Terriers' party, blitzing the BU end in the opening minutes. An ill-advised elbowing penalty to Warrior Connor Toomey gave BU the game's first power play, but Merrimack's Marotta (29) came up big, blocking Sahir Gill's one-timer off a cross-crease feed at the bottom of the right faceoff circle.

At 9:28, Marotta came up big again, first stopping Wade Megan point-blank after a nifty toe-drag move by the BU captain, and then employing an unorthodox snow-angel technique to deny Gill on the rebound.

The Warriors broke on top with a minute left in the opening period, with BU's Evan Rodriguez in the box for interference. Junior Shawn Bates, carrying the puck into the Terriers' end with speed, split a pair of BU defenders before deking out goalie Sean Maguire (39 saves). The big freshman netminder managed to get an arm on Bates' shot, but a second effort by the forward from Saskatchewan, Alberta, got the puck across the line for the power-play strike and a 1-0 Merrimack lead. It was the first time that Merrimack took the lead in five games against the Terriers this year, and ended Maguire's shutout streak at 1:51:22 over three games, the fifth-longest in BU history.

Marotta again stymied the BU power play to open the second period, as the Terriers attacked the Merrimack net with Brendan Ellis serving two minutes for tripping. But just after Ellis got back on the ice, BU junior Matt Nieto tied the game, 1-1, with his 100th career point. Driving down the slot, Nieto snuck behind Merrimack defender Justin Mansfield, took a perfect pass from freshman Danny O'Regan, and tapped it behind Marotta.

Undaunted, the Warriors regained the lead just three minutes later. With Terrier Patrick MacGregor cooling his heels on a high-sticking call, and Merrimack's Josh Myers creating havoc in front of the BU net, Mike Collins collected the puck on his off wing and flicked a shot through a maze of bodies that beat Maguire over his blocker at 4:32.

Maguire prevented the Warriors from doubling the lead moments later, stuffing Merrimack's Brian Christie on a clean breakaway. Just before the midway point, Marotta denied Megan with a sparkling stop of his own, reaching behind to grab Megan's backhand bid.

Marotta had another big stop at 15:51, sliding across his crease to deny Cason Hohmann in the low slot as BU had the extra attacker on a delayed penalty call. During the ensuing penalty, though, Hohmann got the equalizer. Walking in off the left half-wall, the sophomore from Texas snapped a shot that Mansfield blocked. But in the blink of an eye, Hohmann collected his own rebound and roofed a shot over Marotta's right shoulder to square the game, 2-2, at 16:12.

Again, Merrimack responded. Collecting the puck after a mixup between two BU defenders, Warrior John Gustafsson spun at the right faceoff dot and ripped a wrister that beat Maguire short side for a 3-2 margin at 18:40. It wasn't enough.

With eight seconds remaining in the middle stanza and the Terriers on their third power play of the period, BU freshman Sam Kurker jammed at a puck as Marotta tried to cover it, and the biscuit slipped through the netminder's legs to tie the match, 3-3.

"It's bizarre that they score so late in the second period, and we come right back and score again," said Parker. "That was big. If they could have gotten out of the period up, we would have been down a little bit. We lost the first period, and came back and won the second period, which was big when we got that goal."

The Terriers took their first lead at 5:11. Sam Rosen flicked a shot that Marotta blocked, but Rosen followed his initial shot, and shoveled the rebound over the fallen netminder to give BU a 4-3 lead.

Marotta kept the Warriors within 1 with a super blocker stop on Lane, who had a clean breakaway at the 10:10 mark. Lane had another spectacular bid to put the game out of reach at 12:44, when he chipped the puck past Ellis and then slashed across the crease, beating Marotta before his shot clanked off the left post and out.

BU captain Megan put the icing on Parker's final home win, diving at the puck on the right boards and sending it just inside the left post on the empty Merrimack net, where Gill tapped it in for the insurance marker at 19:55.

"I'd just like to start by saying what an honor it was to coach against Jack Parker. He's one of the reasons I wanted to come back to Hockey East, to coach against the likes of Coach Parker and Coach York and Coach [Dick] Umile," said Dennehy. "The game will take an absolute hit with his departure. Pretty big shoes to fill."

Parker departs Agganis with a record of 95-50-18 in the program's sparkling building on Commonwealth Avenue, and 896-471-116 overall. The Terriers now move on to the home of the Boston Bruins, where Parker has won 21 Beanpots and seven Hockey East tournaments. An eighth would ensure Parker's 25th trip to the NCAAs, the most of any coach, and a chance for the legendary coach to reach 900 wins.

"All good things must come to an end," said Parker with his trademark grin. "Oscar Wilde once said that some people cause joy wherever they go. Others whenever they go. So, some of my guys might be cheering when I finish up here. You never know."

Other Hockey East quarterfinals:

No. 2 Boston College 4, No. 7 Vermont 1
The Boston College Eagles suffered a setback before the puck even dropped on Saturday, as head coach Jerry York was sidelined after suffering a second detached retina in his right eye. However, the second-seed Eagles rallied, overwhelming the seventh-seed Vermont Catamounts by a 4-1 margin at Conte Forum to take the quarterfinal series, two games to none. BC scored the game's first goals, with the team's leading scorers Johnny Gaudreau, Steve Whitney and captain Pat Mullane all lighting the lamp to lead the Eagles. The win sends BC, the defending Hockey East and NCAA champs, on to the league semifinals, where they will face Boston University for the 262nd time.

No. 5 New Hampshire 4, No. 4 Providence 1
UMass Lowell will have to wait another day to see who their semifinal opponent will be next Friday, as New Hampshire forced a third and deciding game with a series-tying 4-1 victory over the Friars in Providence. Dick Umile's squad scored in each period, but didn't guarantee itself a game on Sunday until Jeff Silengo put UNH up 3-1 at the 17:33 mark of the third. UNH's Matt Willows put a bow on the win with an empty-netter at 18:23. Wildcats goalie Casey DeSmith (38 saves) got the best of his former USHL teammate, Providence goalie John Gillies (20 saves), to register the win.