Haley Gentry, public affairs manager at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, said, "Upon exiting the plane, apparently he became dizzy and required medical attention." Gentry said a report of the incident did not say Huggins fainted.

Yet, the deal was a surprise even to some who shouldn't have been stunned. That's because WVU's administration -- continuing to be battered by the Heather Bresch bogus degree scandal -- did this deal behind the backs of its athletic leaders. It was a spin move right out of a Joe Alexander post-up. The WVU athletic staff had no knowledge of the "lifetime" contract talks until WVU Athletic Director Ed Pastilong finally was informed about it 24 hours before the dog-and-pony show to announce it.

Beilein wrote that he made the first payment under protest, calling the buyout clause "unenforceable" and "grossly disproportional" to actual damages incurred by the university. WVU hired Bob Huggins away from Kansas State two days after Beilein's departure.

In the letter, Beilein left open the chance he might contest the settlement later.

"I urge the University to stop using the liquidated damages provision in its employment contracts because such provisions are illegal, onerous, and violate public policy," Beilein wrote.

The most glaring example of West Virginia's bungling came at the end of regulation. Star forward Joe Alexander was at the free-throw line with 14 seconds left, looking to convert a three-point play after his quick turnaround tied the score at 64.

Burrell jarred at him, "Come on, you are going to miss this one," and Alexander responded with a comment that, as Burrell put it, "You don't want to put in any [article]." After a longer-than-usual approach, Alexander's free throw rimmed out, and the game went to overtime.

A very interesting occurance has come to Cincinnati fans: the Xavier Musketeers will meet the West Virginia Mountaineers in the Sweet 16. Normally, that doesn't mean much ... but WVU is now coached by Bob Huggins, the former coach at the U of Cincinnati.

You listen to people around town and the buzz is more about Huggins that the Muskies.

Huggins is a god in the Nati. He took a Bearcat program that was lying in the gutter and vaulted them into a Final Four appearance in 1992. Since then, he made Cincy basketball matter as they transitioned from the Metro Conference to the Great Midwest to Conference USA to, ultimately, the Big East.

Huggs never got to coach his team in the Big East as he was run out of town by Cincinnati's president Nancy Zimpher in 2005. You know how some Indiana fans won't come back after Bobby Knight was run off, the same thing has happened to the Bearcats. There are people that have abandoned the Bearcats program and who are elated at Huggins' ability to take West Virginia to the Sweet 16. Even after he left, he still has endorsement deals in the city.

Over the last few years, West Virginia has found a niche of being the NCAA tournament darlings. In 2005, we were Kevin Pittsnogle-d into a surprising Elite 8 team (they went to the Sweet 16 the next season). In 2008, they are the ones who knocked Duke out of the dance.

West Virginia, who couldn't throw the ball in the ocean in the first half, hit 4-of-their-5 three point shots and scored 44 in the second half. Joe Alexander led the way with 22 points, Alex Ruoff added 17 and 6'2 guard Joe Mazzulla came off the bench to give the Mountaineers a huge, huge effort (13 points, 11 boards).

It was the Blue Devils who couldn't shoot in the second half. Duke missed 15 straight three point shots and hit just 5-of-22 from behind the arc. Senior DeMarcus Nelson, who scored just two points in the win over Belmont, shot like garbage again. He hit just 2-of-11 shots and scored just six points.

Duke goes home a tad bit early for the second straight year. West Virginia (the Duke Haters favorite team) will face either Xavier or Purdue next.