A big time bracket buster

Madness has taken over Indianapolis, Ind. And the madness’ name is March Madness. The Final Four of the NCAA Tournament was played Saturday as the fifth seeded Michigan State Spartans took on the fifth seeded Butler Bulldogs.

At the beginning of the tournament this would have been viewed as a highly unlikely match up but this has been a tournament unlike any in a long time.

The second game featured the only No. 1 seed remaining as the Duke Blue Devils faced the No. 2 seeded West Virginia Mountaineers, a matchup that was more expected at the beginning of the tournament. Let’s dive in shall we? I had Michigan State winning it all since the beginning of the season, no lie.

I have also said for a quite a few months Duke is going to get to the championship game as long as big man Brian Zoubek stops playing like a cupcake, which has happened a lot. When I filled out my bracket I chose Michigan State and Duke in my championship game with, my Spartans winning it all. Unfortunately, the Spartans lost arguably their best player in the first round when Kalin Lucas tore his Achilles tendon.

Obviously, my first thought was my chances have been hurt but, despite all odds, they made it to the Final Four, something head coach Tom Izzo knows a lot about. This was coach Izzo’s sixth Final Four appearance in twelve seasons. Apparently the hometown Butler University Bulldogs had a different idea than I did about who was going to compete for the National Championship.

Butler, a small school with an enrollment of 4,000, had to defeat two of the toughest teams in the tournament to get to the Final Four as they knocked off Syracuse University in the Sweet 16 and then Kansas State University in the Elite Eight. Despite all of Butler’s bracket busting, I still thought Michigan State had a great chance at victory. I mean, as a player I would rather play Butler than Syracuse or Kansas State any day. But, like many people in this year’s tournament, I was wrong.

Butler defeated Michigan State 52-50 and my bracket was official ‘Bust-lered.’ For those of you who are not familiar with this term, it’s because I made it up, it simply means beaten by the mid-major Butler Bulldogs. Despite a scoring drought that lasted a lengthy 10:32 in the second half, Butler still found a way to win. In that stretch the Bulldogs went zero for seven from three-point range and made only 24 percent of their shots. Still, somehow they never lost the lead.

They made only 30.6 percent of their shots for the game, which is one of the lowest shooting percentages for a winning team in Final Four history. Becoming only the third number 5 seed to reach the championship game, Butler had to wait to see who they would face in their final game of the season.

The Bulldogs would face either Duke or West Virginia. Duke was looking to advance to their first championship game since 2001 when they won it all. West Virginia, on the other hand, was making their first Final Four appearance since ‘The Logo,’ Jerry West, led them there in 1959.

Unfortunately for head coach Bob Huggins and the Mountaineers, the Blue Devils did what they do best, shoot. The Dukies shot 52 percent from three-point land and 52.8 percent from the floor as they destroyed West Virginia’s one-three-one defense.

Speaking of destroying, at the 8:59 mark in the second half the Mountaineer’s MVP Da’Sean Butler drove the lane and collided with Duke’s Brian Zoubek. It turns out Butler tore his ACL and, to add insult to injury, he was even called for the offensive foul. In front of 72,000 fans coach Huggins, or Huggy Bear, came out onto the floor and comforted his star player as the senior writhed around in severe pain.

Butler was helped off the floor and did not return to the game. At that point however, West Virginia was already down by 15, the score 63-48, and would not get much closer, as Duke came away with the victory 78-57. Whether you love them or hate them, Duke is looking for their first championship since 2001 and Cinderella-story Butler is going for their first in school history. This is the second year in a row a team in the championship game will play in their home state.

Duke has won 16 of their last 17 games and Butler is riding a 25-game winning streak into the national championship. Interestingly enough, none of the players on either team have ever been to a Final Four, so competing in a National Championship game will be the biggest games of their lives to date. The two private schools will battle it out and only one team will come out on top.

Your guess is as good as mine at this point for which team will cut down the net. In a tournament full of upsets it seems logical to expect another and choose Butler, but this seems to be Duke’s year. Only time will tell with this one. I expect it to be a defensive game with a down to the wire ending.

All I can say is coach Mike Krzyzewski has been at Duke for 30 years, the near equivalent to Butler coach Brad Stevens’ entire life (33 years old). I think coaching will be the difference maker here. I choose Duke.

Stephen Poole can be contacted at spoole@keeneequinox.com