I can remember a time when a 4A school was undefeated, 31 - 0 and ranked No. 1 going into the second round after a first round bye. That team lost in the first round to a team that was not ranked. The year was 1996 and the upset victim was..... you guessed it, Silsbee. I was there, some of you perhaps were there. It was the most shocking upset I've ever seen in person at any level. Silsbee had good height, excellent speed. They were not a likely candidate for an upset because they won on defense. They didn't have to depend on outscoring their opponents. The defense was withering, and not just pressing full court but intense half court defense that disrupted anybody's offense. Of course they could score, they could light it up. Thaydeus Holden went on to become No. 10 all time at Tennessee in 3 pointers. They could play above the rim when necessary. Heck, the one white kid on the team could score impressive dunks in game conditions. It was somebody up north, Jacksonville I think. They were a good team but not even good enough to win their district. They weren't going to Austin, they were just happy to be there and if you're going out why not go out valiantly to the best, right? Well that's not how it worked out. Everything they threw up went in. And the longer it went the worse it got. It was like the Absent Minded Professor sneaked in and ironed flubber on their shoes. They could do no wrong. They couldn't believe it themselves when it was over. I've seen teams celebrate after winning the State Championship in the Drum but I've never seen a high school team celebrate a win with such pure shocked elation. Some of our guys were in tears of course but SO WERE SOME OF THEIRS!!! Just out of pure surprise and perfect joy. It was like the last scene on the barricade in Les Miserables. I think I saw long dead players from that school's distant past, back from the grave in spectral form, waving flags and singing the school song in upper deck. We stumbled out of the arena there in Lufkin sort of in a daze. I can remember through the nightmarish fog mumbling incoherently about it being God's will or something like that. The next year Silsbee made it to the semifinals with a team that wasn't as good. It forever burned the "any given night" truism into my consciousness. Does Silsbee have a chance? Oh yea, at this level everybody has a chance against everybody. My prediction? I predict a 25 point win for Yates but I'm hoping for a surprise.