Best In Show: UConn Huskies Defeat Butler Bulldogs To Win 3rd NCAA Championship

UConn Huskies: 2011 NCAA Champs!  (Credit: Hartford Courant)

Five months ago, who saw this coming?  Not Sports Illustrated, which didn't put UConn in its preseason bracket of 68.  Not the Big East coaches, who predicted that UConn would finish 10th in conference play.  Not even me, a lifelong Huskies fan -- I was just hoping we could avoid the NIT for a second straight year.

But these puppy Huskies, led by embattled head coach Jim Calhoun and transcendent superstar Kemba Walker, believed they could be something special.  It was just a matter of harnessing young talent, balancing strengths (defense, speed, Kemba) with weaknesses (penetrating the zone, inexperience, shallow bench).  After a strong start (17-2) the team cooled off (4-7 down the stretch), and the question became: could they put together a sustained run in the postseason?  Well, now we know.

Without further ado, let's take a look at how UConn won tonight and where the program will go from here...

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UConn Marches Past Arizona For 2nd Final Four Berth in 3 Years

Jim Calhoun and the West regional champs. (credit: Hartford Courant)

In what was essentially a road game at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Saturday night, the UConn Huskies marched past the Arizona Wildcats to earn their second Final Four berth in three years.  Much to Charles Barkley's dismay, the 2011 Final Four features No. 4 Kentucky, No. 8 Butler, and No. 11 VCU, making third-seeded Connecticut the lowest seed left in the tournament, and the only Big East squad still standing.

File those last two sentences under "things I never thought I'd say five months ago when most of the college basketball world considered these same Huskies strictly NIT-bound."

Shabazz Napier
(credit: Hartford Courant)

Apparently the players never got the memo back in November.  Instead, they locked in and became one of the greatest tournament teams in college basketball history.  Seriously.  It doesn't even matter whether they win the NCAA tournament.  They've already sealed their place in NCAA lore by winning the Maui Invitational (3-0), the Big East tournament (5-0), and advancing to the Final Four (4-0 so far).  Yes sir, the UConn Huskies are undefeated in tournament play with a 12-0 record (and counting).  So can Connecticut keep its amazing streak going for two more games and close out this remarkable season by winning their 3rd NCAA championship?

Putting aside my obvious bias, I say yes -- and a plurality of Americans agree with me.  (ESPN's latest poll has UConn at 38%, Kentucky at 24%, Butler at 22%, and VCU at 11%.)  Speaking of ESPN, here is an unbelievable stat.  Out of the 5.9 million brackets submitted to the WWL's Tournament Challenge, only two brackets got the Final Four correct.  Two!  In related news, Jay Bilas and Jay Williams were the only two ESPN experts who picked UConn to reach the Final Four.  Perhaps you should listen to people named Jay; we know what we're talking about.

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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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