This is an opinion column.

That was madness, a game drunk on energy and passion, the insanity of NCAA Tournament basketball distilled to its essence and run through a moonshine still somewhere deep in Walker County.

Someone must’ve spiked the Gatorade coolers with Everclear, 95 percent alcohol by volume, because Alabama and Grand Canyon was 100 percent proof that you’ve got to mix plenty of will with your skill to survive and advance.

Alabama survived and Alabama advanced because the best offense in school history by the numbers, one of the best in the country by the metrics and the eye test, decided to get down in a stance, get dirty and play defense.

It also helped that senior All-American Mark Sears took the wheel on both ends of the floor, coming up big with 26 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and stellar defense, with true freshman Mouhamed Dioubate riding shotgun down the stretch. Both of those developments were absolutely necessary to the 72-61 victory. Neither the defense by Sears nor the star turn by Dioubate were reasonably expected.

You could say the same for the fact that Alabama has advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season, for the third time in the last four years. The team from Tuscaloosa hadn’t made this kind of joyful noise in March in more than three decades. It wasn’t supposed to happen again this year.