You are looking live at the logo of the most benevolent organization that weaved through the rule book with me this morning and decided we could indeed have our live post on the blog this afternoon. Hip, hip, NCAA!

Back to normalcy …

We joke, but that’s a wonderful anecdote for a useful philosophy. And if West Virginia goes 2-0 here, I’m going to Midvale to find Phil and shake his hand and take his story. But then again, does Phil remember that story? Is he capable of such things? Would our interview be a personal affront to his philosophy?

So many questions.

First things first, though, is the matter of this 5 v. 12 game and whatever jinx is involved.

Surely I don’t have to tell you that the lower seed has had recent triumphs over the higher seed. Have you ever wondered why? Have you merely accepted the story line as the truth? Did you know this about the history of the matchup?

Buffalo can certainly defeat West Virginia, but the 5-against-12 numbers should have a different spin. In the past 10 NCAA tournaments, there have been 18 wins for the 12 seeds against the 5 seed in 40 matchups. That is a 45-percent success rate.

But only four of those 18 victories were mid-major champions knocking off a power-conference school: North Dakota State against Oklahoma last season, Richmond against Vanderbilt in 2011, Western Kentucky against Illinois in 2009 and Wisconsin-Milwaukee against Alabama in 2005.

Buffalo wants to join that group, but isn’t paying attention to the noise that the Bulls should become the next 12 to advance to the final 32 teams.

“We try not to listen to ESPN and Jay Bilas,” Bulls sophomore Shannon Evans said. “He picked us to win. We try not to listen to that as much. We try to stick to our principles and we know what we have to do to go out and win and we try to stay true to ourselves.”

More good news for the Mountaineers: WVU is 2-0 all-time as the 5 seed against the 12 seed. West Virginia defeated North Carolina A&T by 30 points in 1982, and Clemson by 8 points in 2011. The latter was WVU coach Bob Huggins’ most recent NCAA tournament win.

Huggins, by the way, is also 2-0 as the 5 versus the 12. He won that game four years ago against Clemson, and at Cincinnati his team buried BYU, 84-59, in the 2001 tournament. That was a Sweet Sixteen season for Huggins, but two other 5 seeds that year —­ Ohio State and Virginia — fell victim to the 12-seed jinx.

“It’s March Madness,” Williams said the day before his first NCAA tournament game. ”Anything can happen and anything can go down.”

I assure you Buffalo doesn’t think it’s some sort of Cinderella story, but I think their confidence is reasoned, too. They’re good, and they’re good players from big cities following the lead of a young and ambitious coach who was a famed player. They believe they belong and they like to prove such things.

Sometimes that manifests itself on the floor. They talk and dunk and cheer and boast quite a bit, and they got 19 technical fouls during the season. Nineteen! But allow them to explain.

“We’re as confident as it gets,” Evans said. “We’re not scared of anybody. We’ll go play Kentucky at Rupp Arena. We’ll go play Wisconsin at the Kohl Center. We’re as tough a team as it gets.”

They’re the No. 12 seed here in the Midwest Region for the 2:10 p.m. game on TNT against No. 5 seed WVU. Both teams are 23-9, and the Bulls have won their past eight games.

“Our team is close-knit, just like any other college team, and we’ve been through a lot of adversity, so we’re close and we know what we can accomplish,” said senior Will Regan, who has a spotless record this season.

“We’re prideful and we want to make sure we reach our full potential. Sometimes we’ll show that with our chippiness or energy or attitude, however you want to put it, but it’s really just us trying to win the game because we’re passionate about what we’re trying to accomplish and there’s an excitement that comes with game.”

Ah, Kentucky and Wisconsin. There are those words again. I feel like they’re getting this weird rap for being too proud of the halftime leads over Kentucky and Wisconsin, only to lose both games. Shannon Evans — fourth nationally this season with five technical fouls — volunteered that, but for a purpose. That’s OK. Mostly, though, they were asked about those games, and they seemed to grudgingly reply and sometimes remind.

Not easy to put up with a line of line of like questions, especially when you believe you belong. I assure you, the Bulls tired of Kentucky/Wisconsin queries long ago: “I really don’t like to talk about Kentucky and Wisconsin because we didn’t win. If you look at our resume, what significant wins do we have outside the teams in our conference? We don’t have that big, signature win yet, but we’re trying to get that one here,” Evans said.

We’re all here, so let’s hit it.