Underdogs As Usual The Bulldogs Will Be Top-Dogs On Monday

It’s David VS Goliath all over again, two teams, near opposites in every way battling it out to be national champions. For Butler, another chance avenge their loss in last years national championship game, for UConn, a chance to ride their star player all the way to the top. The grizzled coaching veteran with violations hanging over his head vs. the baby faced 33 year old coaching his second Final Four. Kemba vs. the physical Butler defense. It’s no easy decision picking a winner in this one, but here’s why Butler will be cutting down the nets on Monday Night.

Butler Wins Close Games

There average margin of victory if only 4.2 points and this Butler team knows how to get it done in the closing seconds. Their 2 point win over Old Dominion, 1 point win over Pitt, and 3 point win over Florida make last nights 8 point win over VCU look like a blowout. The Bulldogs keep their cool late in games and can get quick buckets from Howard and Mack if necessary. The Bulldogs have a ton of experience in late game situations in the tourney, which helps prevent them from making boneheaded plays a la Texas in late game situations. The Huskies have only been involved in two real close games, against Arizona and Kentucky, while the Bulldogs have multiple options down the stretch that should help them out late in Monday’s game.

Their Physical Team D Can Stop The Huskies

Tom Izzo said last year after the national semi-final that Butler was the most physical team the Spartans had played and that style has been on display throughout the tournament. Brad Stevens’s intense defense has played a huge role in getting Butler to the national championship game. Their rotations at the end of the VCU game were things of beauty, as the guards clamped down on Joey Rodriguez in the paint and won the game convincingly. While Kemba is certainly is a step up, Butlers team D can contain Walker. Their man defense is strong and you can bet Brad Stevens won’t be playing a lot of zone and letting Walker stroll around the three point line. Butler can force Walker to take tough long jump shots, which he isn’t as strong at as his running drives to the lane. If they can keep Walker on the perimeter Butler should be able to win on Monday.

They Too Have A Star

While he’s no Kemba, Matt Howard is also a dominant offensive player, and his physicality on the defensive end has made him one of the best players in the tournament. Howard leads the team in points and rebounds, and gives Butler a great chance in beating the Huskies. He can make big shots (Old Dominion) and timely buckets (The rebound put back that helped seal the deal against VCU). He’ll probably be guarded early on by Roscoe Smith, who is 6-8 but certainly lacks the speed to keep up with Howard. Howard gets rebounds and scores, and butler should win if he goes off for a big game.

Brad Stevens Will Lead The Way

While Jim Calhoun has the luxury of having Kemba Walker, Butler relies way more on strategy and set plays to win which should bode well for them in the championship game. If Walker is contained Calhoun doesn’t have a lot of options while Butler is well prepared for basically any scenario. Stevens is certainly a big game coach, and Monday should be a shining moment for one of the games best coaches.

5-for-5: Ten Thoughts On UConn's Record-Setting Big East Championship Win

UConn Huskies = 2011 Big East Champs (Credit: Hartford Courant)

A few hours ago, the Selection Committee announced that Connecticut will be the No. 3 seed in the West Region of the 2011 NCAA tournament, matching up with No. 14 Bucknell in Washington, D.C. during Thursday's first round.  Historically, UConn has fared well out West, winning the national championship in both 1999 and 2004.  Jay Bilas likes them in 2011 as well -- he recently picked UConn to be a Final Four team this year.

A fundamental law of nature is that controversy must surround Selection Sunday.  This year is no exception.  Bubble teams such as Colorado (six RPI Top-50 wins) and Virginia Tech (defeated then-No. 1 Duke in February, advanced to ACC semis this week) were left out, while unheralded UAB (one RPI Top-50 win) and VCU (finished 4th in CAA, lost their last 5 of 8, 11 losses overall, bad L's to Georgia State and Northeastern) somehow squeaked in.  At least UConn snagged a No. 3 seed.

Kemba Walker & Roscoe Smith
(credit Hartford Courant)

Some could argue that Florida, which finished first in the SEC but lost (decisively) for the second time to Kentucky in today's SEC championship, should not have received a No. 2 while UConn, which reeled off a magical five-game run to win the Big East championship, got stuck with a No. 3.  You could also argue that Pitt's one-and-done in the Big East should have dropped them from No. 1 to No. 2.  And so on.  But I think that the top of the bracket, for the most part, is pretty reasonable.  The only question mark is the absence of certain bubble teams, and why the East and West regions are so damn tough.

But let's forget about the bracket for a moment.  There is plenty of time between now and Thursday's tipoff to hack it apart.  Let's just focus on 10 thoughts about UConn's incredible feat of winning 5 games in 5 days to become Big East champs...

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Sources: Kemba Walker Wanted For The Murder Of Gary McGhee's Ankles

Kemba Walker is so many things for the 2010-11 UConn Huskies.  He is their leader, their go-to scorer, their MVP, and clearly their best all-around player.  He should have been selected as the Big East Player of the Year (Ben Hansbrough?  Really?  Really??) and he will probably be selected as a first-team All-American in April.  Plus, as the consensus top point guard in college basketball, he is going to be someone's lottery pick in June.  You can take that to the bank.  (Minnesota, perhaps?  The Wolves do have a thing for PGs.  KAAAAAAAAAHN!)

Gary McGhee (bottom right) fell all the way into the lane on Kemba's step-back J.  (Credit: Pitt Post-Gazette)

But what is Kemba, really?  If you ask Brittany Griner's bizarro twin Gary McGhee, then Kemba is an ankle breaker.  If you ask Pittsburgh mob capo head coach Jamie Dixon, then Kemba is the best clutch player in the nation.  If you ask UConn head coach Jim Calhoun, then Kemba is the guy who gets the ball at the end of any close game, even though the entire arena knows who's getting the ball.

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Big East: College Basketball's Version of SEC Football

The Big East might not be much of a football conference, but its 16 basketball schools dominate the hardwood. Just like the SEC dominates the BCS.

Fact: Joe Lunardi's most recent Bracketology predictions have 11 Big East teams in the tournament, with Pitt as a No. 1 seed and both UConn and Villanova as No. 2 seeds.

Fact: 7 Big East teams are currently ranked in the Top 25.  Another 2 are receiving votes after just dropping out.  That's over half the conference.

Fact: The Big East's 7 ranked teams have a combined 82-6 non-conference record.

Fact: The Big East is the toughest conference in the country.  Just ask  Providence College basketball fans (they do exist -- Facebook claims there are 3,742 of them).  Their Friars just took down Villanova by 15 at home.  Even better, Seton Hall beat Syracuse by 22 points in the Carrier Dome in what was the Orange's third-biggest home loss in the Jim Boeheim Era.  Possibly most impressive was Notre Dame overcoming a 5-point halftime deficit to beat Pitt in Pittsburgh, where the Panthers had won 51 of their past 52 games.

Fact: UConn's Kemba Walker is still atop the National Player of the Year poll.

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TCU accepts invitation from the Big East

Breaking news from Brett McMurphy of Fanhouse: TCU will join the Big East in 2012.

The Horned Frogs, formerly of the Mountain West Conference, will officially join the Big East on July 1, 2012 and begin play in the 2012-13 school year.

This move will certainly help the Big East shed its current "Big Least" reputation in football.  While it has long been a basketball powerhouse, sometimes sending 9 of its 16 teams to the NCAA tournament in March, the Big East has lost its swagger since Boston College, Virginia Tech, and Miami (FL) defected to the ACC in 2003.  The additions of Louisville, Cincinnati, and South Florida never made up for that loss on the gridiron.

This season, TCU is 11-0 and ranked No. 3 in the BCS, which guarantees it a BCS bowl game.  Even better, the current four-year evaluation period for the BCS concludes in December 2011, so TCU's past BCS rankings – three consecutive top 11 BCS rankings, including this year – will transfer to the Big East since it joined the league before the 2012-13 school year.  And it's clear that the move will benefit TCU's television revenues (their current contract expires at the end of the 2013 season) as well as those of the Big East.


The remaining question is who else will join the Big East's football ranks.  On the basketball side, the conference is now up to 17 teams, so that door is pretty firmly shut.  But there are only 9 football schools now.  The Big East has also extended an offer to Villanova, a 30-year basketball member of the conference.  The Wildcats, who presently play in the Conference Formerly Known as Division 1-AA, are expected to accept or refuse that offer by the end of the 2010-11 school year.  If they turn it down, UCF looks to be next in line.  Either way, the conference is going to have 10 teams and be much stronger in the 2012 season and beyond.  For fans of UConn and all other Big East schools, this is a watershed moment.

UConn football in the Fiesta Bowl?

No really, I'm serious, and so are others.  By winning out vs. Cincinnati and South Florida (and with a little help from West Virginia by beating Pitt in the Backyard Brawl) UConn can win the Big East and automatically qualify for a BCS bowl.  Namely, the Fiesta Bowl against the Big 12 champ.

The key is that WestVa vs. Pitt matchup.  Pitt currently sits atop the Big East standings, followed by UConn and then WestVa.  UConn owns the tiebreaker over both schools (two huge home wins, by the way).  So if WestVa knocks off Pitt and UConn wins out, UConn takes the cheese.  And a moderately raucous fan base erupts in East Hartford.

This is totally possible, by the way.  As Ty Duffy said, file Dave Wannstedt in a big game under things I don't trust.  And UConn has a winnable game vs. Cincinnati at home (the Bearcats have given up the most points --by far -- of any Big East team this season, and UConn is 5-0 at Rentschler Field), plus a decent matchup against middle-of-the-road South Florida in balmy Tampa on Dec. 4.

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