2010 NCAA Tournament: Final Four

#5 Butler Bulldogs (32-4, 18-0 Horizon) vs.
#5 Michigan State Spartans (28-8, 14-4 Big Ten)

Despite what most Maryland fans think, I’m rooting for Michigan State. How can you not? They have the greatest coach in the game. Not only that, they have a coach that does things the right way. You never hear of any scandals at Michigan State (at least regarding the basketball team), there aren’t even hints of wrongdoing. Furthermore, the team itself is pretty likeable. Raymar Morgan and Korie Lucious are fantastic players. And despite being in the Big Ten, the Spartans don’t play the typical “first to 50” type of basketball. They actually have a modern offense. I know this team beat the Terps on a last second shot. So what? Look at the other three options left in this tournament and try to convince me to root for any of them. You’ll be up way past your bedtime trying to persuade me.

You could also argue that Michigan State – not Butler – is the true underdog in this tournament. The Spartans were left for dead at the beginning of the NCAA Tournament. Yours truly thought they would barely squeak by New Mexico State (which was 100% correct). MSU hasn’t won any of their games convincingly. Their best player is unavailable due to injury, and their best three-point shooter/defender is lucky to be 75% healthy. They are probably the worst of the four teams left. But having the best coach, and having players that would step in front of a bullet for him, definitely count for something at this point of the season.

As for Butler, I honestly don’t know how they managed to beat both Syracuse and Kansas State. The Bulldogs didn’t play exceptionally well in either game. The win over the Orange wasn’t shocking…Syracuse was overrated all season, they had no depth, a coach that refuses to waver from his gimmick defense, and played in the overhyped Big East. Despite that, Butler choked a large lead away late in the game and almost choked a second lead away in the closing seconds. The win against KSU was much more impressive, but a lot of it was due to the Wildcats playing stupid. It’s hard to pick which of the Elite Eight participants had a lower basketball IQ between KSU, Baylor or Tennessee. My money is on Tennessee (fouling with 1.8 seconds to go in a tie game and having Bruce Pearl as the coach puts them over the top), but Kansas State is a not so distant second. The Wildcats were down most of their contest against Butler, came back to take the lead late, then completely collapsed in the final two minutes of the game. The Wildcats went away from everything that worked nearly perfectly in the first 18 minutes of the second half and played street ball in the game’s final 120 seconds. Meanwhile, Frank Martin just kind of stood there with three veins popping out of his neck and let it happen. So how much of that win was Butler, and how much of it was Kansas State? I tend to lean toward KSU giving away the game rather than Butler reaching out and earning the win.

I’m having a hard time figuring out a way that Butler will win this game. Yes, they’ll be the sentimental favorite, since they are the only non-big school in the event. Yes, their campus is six miles from Lucas Oil Stadium. Yes, their fans will have an easy trip to the arena. But you have to remember that Butler is a university of only about 4,000 students, with a very small alumni base. Their entire undergrad enrollment could show up, and they’d barely be noticed in the 65,000+ football stadium. Plus, it’s not as if Michigan State and West Virginia are that far from Indianapolis (and you’ll have all the bandwagon Dook fans crawl out of hiding after nine seasons). I don’t think the homecourt advantage will be that big of a factor. Maybe if Purdue or Indiana were playing, but not Butler.

On the court the matchup still favors the Spartans. We all know that Butler is not the most skilled team out there, but they’ve managed to beat a physical Syracuse team and a fast Kansas State team. The difference in their game Saturday will be the coaching. Tom Izzo is by far the best coach that Brad Stevens has gone against all season. Without Lucas, MSU has become a team with no true identity, but they are able to play to their opponent’s pace and still win. Against Maryland, the Spartans were able to run and outscore the Terps. They slugged out a defensive win against Northern Iowa. Then they did a little bit of everything in their win over the Vols. Whatever the Bulldogs throw at Michigan State, I have no doubt that the Spartans will be able to handle it and overcome it.
Pick: Michigan State 72, Butler 64


#2 West Virginia Mountaineers (31-6, 13-5 Big East) vs.
#1 Duke Blue Devils (33-5, 13-3 ACC)

Well, I’ll say this about the second semifinal: thank goodness this isn’t the championship game. No matter what happens Saturday, I’ll have a team I can cheer for on Monday…and it’s not going to be the team that wins this contest. The good news is one of these teams goes home. It’s either the team coached by the alcoholic cheater with a fan base full of rednecks, or it’s the Dookies (see posts from 2006, 07, 08, 09 and 10 for more details on those punks). It’s a win-win for me and the country.

For those still not sure if CBS and NCAA are trying to hand this championship to the Devils, whether it be ignoring the fact that the Dookies got an undeserved #1 seed and basically a clear path to the Final Four, the evidence continues to mount that the 2010 tournament is going to be a lot like the 2001 version. Observe the last five minutes against Baylor. Now many in the media, even some that are vehemently anti-Dook, came to the Devils rescue over the weekend. When many around the nation were ready to blast the officiating, the columnists and reporters defended the refs, saying that the Dookies earned a hard-nose win and that Baylor choked a little towards the end of the game. You won’t hear many arguments from me on the latter part. The Bears certainly tightened up a little down the stretch. Baylor wasn’t known this year for playing smart basketball, and they certainly didn’t help their cause last weekend. But to argue the refs didn’t help Duke out…really? I guess we should go to the video tape.

With under five minutes to go, Baylor held a two-point lead. The Bears had the ball and Quincy Acy attacked the hoop. The Galactic Space Alien slid his body as awkwardly as possible toward the baseline and drew a charging call. Here’s the video. Not only was that a clear blocking call, but the Alien was under the hoop when he took the contact. Despite not having the NBA circle, that type of charge attempt being illegal was supposed to be a point of emphasis for officials this season. If those two factors aren’t enough, then check out the baseline replay of the “charge”. Not only is the Alien’s left leg not set, but it appears his left hand hits Acy’s right arm, which of course would generally be a foul. So let’s see…contact directly under the hoop (which usually favors the offense), a charging call that wasn’t and a hack on Acy’s arm while shooting. Baylor should have gone up by four points and Acy should have been at the line for one. The Alien should have been removed from the game with his fifth foul. Instead, the Dookies get the ball back and hit a three on the next possession to take the lead. To argue this call didn’t change the outcome of the game is absurd. The momentum swings around completely. A Baylor team that is already a little bit nervous and easily flustered struggles to get over that call…even more so when the three is made on the other end. Furthermore, the goofy Alien is 7’1” and well over 250 pounds. Acy barely makes body contact with him, and he goes flopping across the floor. Seriously, the NCAA needs to put a stop to players of the Alien’s size flopping like this. PLAY DEFENSE! Stop being a wuss and try to block the shot. Or anticipate the drive and make the player go around you. Either way, players like this shouldn’t be rewarded by being awkward and playing poor defense.

Just in case that call wasn’t enough, the refs then called two bogus hand-checks on Baylor in the following minutes. The same hand-checking that had gone un-called throughout the entire game (and entire tournament by just about every single team). Finally, when the game was just about to get out of hand, this scrum took place. The refs made sure that Baylor wouldn’t comeback by calling a technical foul on Acy. Again, watch the replay. The Screamer throws two elbows, runs away from the argument, then pleads to the refs for a call with a smug grin on his face. Not surprisingly, the tech is called on Baylor (for what I’m not sure…it doesn’t appear that Acy or Nolan Smith do much of anything). In most situations, the tech would be called on the Screamer, or off-setting techs would be called on Acy or Smith, or no technicals would be called at all. Normally the refs would step in, separate the teams, and warn the coaches. No punches were thrown (if you don’t count the elbows) and it didn’t even appear like there was a lot of trash-talking that took place. Of course, this isn’t a normal situation. The refs put the hammer down on Baylor and effectively ended the game.

So there you have it. An awful charging call resulted in a momentum change and five-point swing. Two bad hand checks made sure the Dookies would extend the lead. A very questionable technical foul was given to make sure Baylor would roll-over. I’m not saying that the combination of those four calls were the only reason that Baylor lost because the Bears didn’t help their own cause. It’s just something to think about. And if there’s any karma left in the tournament, then Dook’s run ends right here.
Pick: West Virginia 69, Duke 66