I can’t believe what happened this past Saturday.

The world watched something amazing on its television sets.

What am I talking about, you ask?

No, not the Lawrence Welk show, though they do have their share of natural born talent.

What I am talking about is Iowa State’s win over Cincinnati. I will be honest. It was unbelievable. Simply unbelievable. In fact, I am still in shock.

I honestly will admit that I thought their season was over on Saturday.

And yes, for the record, believe it or not, I am a Cyclones fan. There is no hiding it. I am such a huge Cyclones fan, my blood is red. (If that isn’t dedication, I don’t know what is.)

And now, the Cyclones march into the Sweet 16, the first time since the 1985-86 season. And if they continue to play like they did last Saturday, great things will happen.

That is what I am most amazed by. They played so well, at times I pinched myself, thinking I was dreaming.

Throughout the first half, when they held the lead for almost the entire time, I just kept thinking the second half would be all Cincinnati.

The game was too close for comfort — watching the lead change hands frequently throughout the game, and both teams unable to build a substantial lead.

Forgive me, I am a pessimist. I had a hard time believing they would pull through. And I thought that by cheering them on, I would accidentally put a curse on them.

And I stopped myself from cheering until the clock was empty, for the shot from way downtown by Damon Flint came close.

But I must commend the performances of many of the ‘Clones. Dedric Willoughby sunk five three-pointers.

Jacy Holloway shot 100% in the first half. The team shot a season high .882 (15-17) from the foul line.

Also, I give Tim Floyd the award for best courtside drama. It was in reaction to the call the ref made, fouling out Kelvin Cato.

It was the most idiotic call I have ever witnessed. It was a block by Cato that was no where close to being labeled a foul.

One neat fact — Cincinnati is truly a team that chokes when faced with a challenge.

Cincinnati was 1-4 against ranked teams this season. The losses were against Kansas, Louisville, South Carolina and Iowa State.

But the ‘Clones have a bigger problem to attend to, and that is UCLA.

This is a tough one to call just from looking at the records because UCLA is 23-7, and Iowa State is 22-8.

I just hope I don’t have any studies to attend to on Thursday night, for if I did, they would surely be neglected.

By the way, I am not going to make any predictions for this game’s outcome. I don’t want to put a hex on the ‘Clones.

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RORY FLAHERTY is a junior in construction engineering from LeMars.