Two outrageous comebacks in the NCAA tournament's preliminary games last night served as an instructive reminder that it's never over until it's over. The first play-in game for 64-team field saw one historic comeback when Western Kentucky rallied from 16-points down with less than five minutes to play — a record set in front of President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron — to beat Mississippi Valley State, 59-58. Then later in the evening BYU overcame a 25-point second-half deficit to be beat Iona, the biggest comeback ever in an NCAA tournament game. The "first-round" play-in games have derided (mostly by us) as an unnecessary and insulting add-on that is not really a true part of the main NCAA tournament. However, the powers that beat don't really care about complaints over the unnatural 68-team field, particularly when they have a night like this to kick things off. Great basketball is still great basketball, and there should be plenty more to follow over the next three weeks. Just don't got bed early, no matter what the score is.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at dbennett at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Dashiell Bennett