My original brackets were atrocious. I was 0/2 in the title game, 1/4 in the Final Four, 4/8 in the Elite 8, and 9/16 in the Sweet 16. This was by far the worst I’ve ever done in picking a bracket.
In my 2nd chance bracket (starting at the sweet 16), it was even worse! 0/2 in the title game, 0/4 in the Final four, and 4/8 in the Elite 8. Pathetic.
Last week, I made my predictions for the Final Four and title game: West Virginia beating Duke and Michigan State beating Butler, with WVU winning the title. Oh what do you know…I was wrong in both games.
While most of the time I think I know a lot about sports, it are times like these where I realize I know absolutely nothing.
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Well. The National Title game is set! Duke Blue Devils versus the Butler Bulldogs. Back in November, I dont think you could have found any person (not related to the Bulter program) in this country who would have predicted that Butler would play in the national title game. Honestly, Im not even sure sure the Butler players would have predicted it.
This is David vs Goliath to the extreme. Never before since Michigan State and Indiana State pitted Magic Johnson vs Larry Bird in 1969 have we seen such polar opposites in programs (and coaches). We have Duke, the 4th winningest college basketball program of all time, vs Butler, who before this season never even made it past the Sweet 16. Duke on the other hand has made it to the Elite 8 18 times. This is Butler’s 1st trip to the National Title game. Duke has played in 9!
Side note/fun trivia: Butler plays their home games at the Hinkle (Butler) Fieldhouse. The Hinkle Fieldhouse used to host the Indiana State high school basketball championships, most famously the 1959 game between Milan High and Muncie Central, one of the biggest David and Goliath games in basketball. The story was famously made into a movie, Hoosiers, one of the greatest sports movies of all time.
Besides, the uneven match up between schools, you have the uneven match up between coaches: Brad Stevens vs Mike Krzyzewski. Brad Stevens is only 33 years old. Coach K has been coaching for 35 years (30 at Duke). Brad Stevens had only been coaching for 3 years. Coach K has won 3 national titles at Duke.
However, what I love about Brad Stevens is that he isnt fazed by any of this. He’s already beaten Syracuse and Michigan State, coached by Jim Boeheim and Tom Izzo, respectively, who are two of the top 5 greatest college basketball coaches in the game. Jim Boehiem was just voted “Coach of the Year” by the AP Press. Just by looking at Stevens coach on the sideline, you can tell he has a confidence about him and that he knows that he and his team belongs on the big stage.
The title game on Monday will be a very interesting game, and in predicting the outcome, let’s take a look at the semifinal matchups and what were the difference makers.
Butler vs Michigan State
One thing you noticed about Butler is their amazing defense. In all 5 of their tournament games so far, they have kept their opponents to under 60 points. This is extremely surprising when you see that all 5 of these opponents averaged more than 72 points a game over the entire season: Michigan State (72.4), Kansas State (79.7), Syracuse (80.9), Murray State (76.5), and UTEP (75.3). Their stingy defense creates turnovers, and these turnovers lead to fastbreak points. Against Michigan State, Butler scored 20 points off turnovers. Also, 12 out of Butler’s 15 transition points came off of turnovers as well. Butler’s man defense is one of the most disciplined units I have seen in the college game.
On offense for Butler, you obviously have Gordon Hayward, who may be the most NBA ready player in the Final Four. There’s not really much to say about him other than the fact that he’s the real deal…a complete player who shoots, passes, and rebounds all extremely well. He was definitely the star of the game.
Duke vs West Virginia
When 2 of the big three of Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer, and Nolan Smith are on in any given night, Duke is amazing, and its normally enough to win. In all games this tournament, one of these three players had an “off shooting night”, yet Duke found a way to win. Tonight, all three players were on fire, and it was outright scary. They were a combined 22/45 from the field, and 12/23 from the 3 point line. They combined for a total of 64 points, and they outscore the entire WVU team (57). It was only the 3rd time this season that all 3 scored more than 19 points each. Their chemistry and ball movement on the court was like watching a well-oiled offensive machine at its finest.
My Prediction: Butler over Duke. Im finally jumping on the Butler bandwagon. Defense wins championships right? Singler, Scheyer, and Smith can’t have another game where they shoot amazingly well….right?
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