It might be remembered as the Southeastern Conference Championship Brawl.
With 2:08 remaining in Sunday's championship game of the SEC Women's Tournament, South Carolina freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley stripped the ball from LSU sophomore Flau'jae Johnson, who grabbed her as she started up the court for an intentional foul.
After the foul was called, South Carolina's Ashlyn Watkins approached Johnson. The two exchanged words before Johnson gave Watkins a forearm shove.
That's when South Carolina star senior center Kamilla Cardoso, who is 6-7, rushed Johnson, who is 5-10, and shoved her to the floor with a force that reminded me of Dan Hampton sacking quarterbacks. Only in football is that kind of play welcome.
Never should be in basketball.
The SEC championship figured to be a thriller, but not like Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali in Manila back in 1975, the last of their three heavyweight championship fights.
The game was highly-anticipated. It was the two best teams in the SEC: undefeated and No. 1-ranked South Carolina vs. No. 8 LSU, which is 28-5 and the defending national champions.
The year before, the Gamecocks were the national champions and for almost 32 minutes Sunday they were aggressive and physical but not brutal until the end.
The referees -- who later LSU Coach Kim Mulkey would indicate lost control of the game by not calling enough fouls -- coaches and even Johnson's brother, who jumped out of the stands, separated the melee and kept it from being worse.
Johnson's brother was escorted out of the arena and arrested by the police. After reviewing the incident for 19 minutes, the referees ejected six players.
Cardoso was ejected for fighting and will sit out the first game of the NCAA Tournament. Five others were ejected for leaving the bench area.
South Carolina finished the 79-72 win with six players and LSU with five.
What should be remembered as a great championship game will be known for that brawl.
. . .
Arkansas or Vanderbilt could have an impact on South Carolina's seeding in the NCAA Men's Tournament.
The way the Razorbacks are playing right now, they are favored to get some payback against the Commodores on Wednesday at the SEC Tournament. They would then face South Carolina, which most experts have as a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but the one most likely to slide in the seedings if it loses its first game.
Mississippi State is seeded No. 10 on most experts' brackets, but a first-round SEC Tournament loss to LSU could hammer them out of the Big Dance.
The Bulldogs need to win that game because their next opponent would be Tennessee.
Another huge game is Texas A&M and Ole Miss. Currently most experts have the Aggies as a first-out, but if they could beat Ole Miss, which they did in Oxford last Saturday 86-60 and find a way to knock off Kentucky, which just beat SEC champion Tennessee, the Aggies may have played their way into the NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats appear to be peaking at the right time. They have won five in a row, the longest win streak in the SEC. and jumped up to No. 19 in the NCAA NET rankings.
Kentucky, South Carolina, Auburn and Alabama all tied for second in the SEC with 13-5 conference records. Tennessee was 14-4.
The prediction here for SEC Tournament is Arkansas and Georgia win Wednesday but with the short turnaround, about 19 hours, lose their second games. A&M beats Ole Miss and Mississippi State beats LSU.
Tennessee knocks off Mississippi State and Auburn, and faces Kentucky in the championship game and the Vols win it and there is no brawl.