As the ball sailed through the air in a momentarily quiet Welsh-Ryan Arena, Chris Collins didn’t know what to think.
“It was kind of surreal.”
To Collins, it looked like Nathan Taphorn’s full-court pass was going to sail out of bounds, and with just 1.7 seconds left in regulation and the score between Northwestern and Michigan tied at 65, an errant pass would give the ball to the Wolverines underneath the Wildcats’ basket.
A few inches too far, potential disaster. A few inches too short, overtime.
But, as generations of sports fans will come to remember, The Pass was just right.