Before we get to what happened at the BUSA Final 8s in Sheffield last week, let's remind ourselves of the drama that led up to it...

First of all, there was shock when tournament stalwarts Brunel (second best record in Premier South) and Marjons (3 championships in the last 4 years) were knocked out at the final 16 stage.

Then there was all sorts of controversy when the London Met v Middlesex game was cancelled due to a broken ring.

When BUSA ordered a re-match, most had Middlesex down to win. In fact, most had them pegged as the only team that would be able to give Worcester a challenge. But an inspired performance from London Met meant that their almost entirely Greek squad left for Sheffield as soon as the final buzzer had sounded.

With such madness going on in the days leading up to the Final 8s, who knew what was going to happen? Could we be certain of anything anymore?

FRIDAY:

Well, one thing that DID look pretty certain was that Worcester were THE team to beat. Their quarter final spanking of UWIC (83 - 47) proved that.

However, there was another stunner when Birmingham (who many considered "lucky" to have beaten Brunel) defeated Northumbria by 15 points.
This might have had something to do with Northumbria's star player, Dijon Fisher (right) having his hand in a cast.

Everyone was wondering where the next upset was going to come from.

Loughborough beating Oxford wasn't much of a surprise (shoutout to the Oxford player rocking the SBUK headband!!)...but London Met (who, remember, weren't even in the Premier league) toppling the mighty Sheffield Hallam most definitely DID raise some eyebrows. Met's Konstantinos Perentos (below) had an incredible game, with Manos Vouteris also coming up with some big shots down the stretch.

That meant the semis would see Worcester take on Birmingham (surely they couldn't pull the ultimate shocker?!) and London Met face Loughborough.

"So, it'll be a Worcester v Loughborough final then?" was the rhetorical question local kid (and SBUK message board member) Fluke / 12 asked me.

"Don't write off London Met," was my reply.....