By now, you’ve obviously seen the replay: Brandon Rush buried a triple in transition to give Kansas a startling 38-12 lead over North Carolina Saturday night, and Billy Packer exclaimed, “This game is over,” even though there was 7:32 left in the first half. USA Today’s Michael Hiestand blew up Packer’s cell phone Sunday night, and here’s the Most Hated Announcer in College Basketball’s explanation:

“My job is to say what I see, not have some kind of subconscious feelings about offending anybody,” he says, adding that on-air partner Jim Nantz “grabbed my arm” after his game-over line. “It probably annoyed some people, but I don’t concern myself with having some agenda that’s contrary to what I’m seeing.” Besides, he says, “the integrity of the sport is more important than any promotion for television.”

We must confess – we’ve always liked Packer’s analysis prior to this stunt, and when he erupted with Saturday, we nearly fell off the sofa laughing. It definitely will be one of the five most memorable announcing moments of the tournament (two others that come to mind – Jay Bilas working the telestrator after Stanford Trent Johnson was ejected, and Gus Johnson and Len Elmore going bananas on Stephen Curry’s Spiderman move against Wisconsin).

CBS’ Packer says honesty is still his policy (USA Today)