March, we finally have a bit of true madness.
The NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament — better known to many as “March Madness” — officially kicked off Thursday (following the “First Four” play-in games), and while there have been plenty of controversies and upsets, actual on-court madness has been relatively muted thus far.
That was, until Sunday.
The slate of games featured an electric buzzer-beater that captured national attention, and not all of it was positive.
To wit, the Maryland Terrapins beat the Colorado State Rams Sunday by the slimmest winning margin possible, 72-71.
As ESPN noted, it was a wild back-and-forth affair (in fact, ESPN reported that the winning shot accounted for the 15th lead change of the game, which tied for second most in an NCAA tournament game the past two years) that eventually ended with a historic shot.
But should it have counted?
Maryland freshman Derik Queen — “only the fourth freshman to hit a buzzer-beating game-winner in the NCAA men’s tournament since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985” according to ESPN — had a play drawn up for him where the 6-foot-10 star would take the final shot.
You can watch the moment for yourself below:
MARYLAND MADNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TERPS WIN IT! pic.twitter.com/NO0UozXVyj
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 24, 2025
The moment, epic in its own right, immediately came under a microscope.
Eagle-eyed viewers may have noticed that Queen appeared to take an extra step after picking up the basketball — a violation commonly referred to as a “travel” in basketball.
Should this play have been called a travel?
“Current NCAA rules allow a gather and two steps. A slow motion view of a separate angle, posted by March Madness and slowed down by me, shows he clearly gathered and subsequently took three steps,” CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone reported.
CBS’s own former referee on staff — ex-NFL referee Gene Steratore — actually disputed that claim, based on a technicality.
“By rule, the dribble doesn’t end until there’s firm possession with one hand locked, but more times than not, with two hands. […] When he brings it back up, we don’t know if that’s fully possessed,” Steratore said, per CBS. “If he bobbles that at that point, he could continue to bobble that basketball all the way to the hoop without a travel. So, you’ve got to wait until you can define firm possession. […]
“To me, it just really doesn’t jump off the screen as anything big.”
Social media appeared to be far more on Boone’s side than Steratore’s when it came to this March Madness moment.
Can’t believe they didn’t call this a travel.
— Isenhart Stables 🐎🌹 $CROWN (@IsenhartStables) March 24, 2025
Nice travel
— Dan (@bridgtowndaniel) March 24, 2025
So, you get 3 steps after the dribble in the tournament? Got it👍
— Tony Parks (@Parks67) March 24, 2025
Regardless, the final score is in the books, and doesn’t appear likely to change.
Queen and his fellow 11-seed Maryland teammates will now play 1-seed University of Florida on Thursday in a Sweet Sixteen match-up.
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