2010 NCAA Tournament: National Championship

#5 Butler Bulldogs (33-4, 18-0 Horizon) vs.
#1 Duke Blue Devils (34-5, 13-3 ACC)

I came to grips with the Devils winning the championship about midway through their game with West Virginia. It was obvious that the Mountaineers weren’t that interested and I didn’t even bother to watch the second half…especially not on a gorgeous Saturday night. We all know Butler is going to show up for 10 minutes – maybe a half – and then roll over in the second half tonight. If the Dookies don’t win this thing by at least 15 point I’d be surprised. Thanks to the NCAA committee, CBS, Robbie Hummel’s ACL, Da’Sean Butler’s ACL, phantom charges, Kansas/Kentucky not showing up and Bob Huggins’ incompetence, it looks like another championship and more smugness for the nerds. Oh well.

I’d rather talk about Maryland some more. I don’t think next year is the gloom and doom that most fans are suggesting. The starting lineup will consist of Tucker, Bowie, Mosley, Williams and Gregory. That’s a pretty good starting five. Three seniors, a junior and sophomore. Maryland can do some damage with that lineup. Obviously none of the guards will be able to replicate Greivis Vasquez’s season, and his loss is a clear negative for Maryland. I’m not delusional enough to believe that it will be easy for the Terps to adjust without him. But if Bowie and Mosley up their scoring averages a little bit (which they should with more minutes and more shots), then Maryland should be fine in the long run. James Padgett should also see a rise in minutes and I’m confident he’ll be a huge factor for the Terrapins frontcourt next year.

The Terps also add five freshmen, three of whom look very promising and should contribute immediately. Mychal Parker is a 6’6” wingman who is one of the bigger recruits Gary Williams has nailed down in the last couple of seasons. Scouts have raved about his defense, which means he should have no problem being one of the first two players off the bench. If he’s as good as everyone is saying, he may crack the starting lineup by next season. Terrell Stoglin should be the next great Maryland point guard. The comparisons between Stoglin and Terrell Stokes are already beginning. Stoglin has lit up Arizona High School record books the past few seasons. Two years ago he was barely recruited…I believe only San Diego and Northern Arizona were considering him. Now he is ranked as one of the top 100 players in the country. Very nice find by Rob Ehsan and the coaching staff. The third player to watch is Pe’Shon Howard…another player who was not heavily recruited but has shot up the rankings during this past season. It’s hard to doubt Howard’s pedigree since he attends Oak Hill. I’ve seen him play a couple of times on TV recently, and I can’t wait to see what he can do for Maryland next season. He’s probably the player I’m most excited about watching next year. The only problem is the depth chart. I don’t know how many minutes a 6’4” freshman shooting guard is going to get with Mosley, Bowie and potentially Parker ahead of him. The question mark about the recruiting class right now is power forward Ashton Pankey. It seemed like Pankey had the potential to be another Jordan Williams; a raw post player that was basically ignored by recruiters and the rankings, only to blossom during his senior season. Unfortunately, Pankey has been dealing with various leg injuries for the past six months and didn’t play most of the year. He should be healthy by the summer, but he’ll have a lot to catching up to do. If he shines in camp and practice, then Maryland’s frontcourt will be four deep. If not, the front court will be very similar to the one from this season.

Regardless, Maryland should be a deep team, which means Gary should be able to run his system. The Terps will have home-and-homes with Virginia, Duke, Boston College, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. Maryland will only play Clemson, Florida State and NC State at home while they get Georgia Tech, Miami and UNC on the road. Avoiding Clemson, FSU and Carolina two times should be a benefit. Getting Virginia, BC and Wake Forest (I’m assuming minus Al Farouq Aminu) twice should also help. Virginia Tech could be terrible if Malcolm Delaney goes to the NBA. We also know Maryland will play at Villanova and will get some combination of Pitt, Texas and Illinois in the Coaches vs. Cancer shindig at MSG. Add in a home game against a Big Ten team (most likely Ohio State or Purdue) and that should be a pretty good schedule. Of course, with 142 teams getting into the dance now, Maryland probably won’t have to win any of those out of conference games to makes the NCAA Tournament.

Before I go, congrats to Greivis on winning the Bob Cousy Award and making either the first team or second team of every All-American squad there is. I already plan on being in attendance during whatever game Maryland decides to raise his jersey next season. He’s done the university proud over the last two seasons, and I wish him the best of luck in the NBA. Hopefully he’ll go late in the first round and wind up on a good team. I promise that I will post once more either this week or next before going in to my summer hibernation. So come back for that as I discuss the future of this page.
Pick: Duke 67, Butler 51