Butler Bulldogs Head Home for Final Four

Butler defeated Syracuse and Kansas State over the weekend to complete an improbable run to the Final Four. Butler has turned into the new Gonzaga, a mid-major power with the potential to do damage in the tournament every year. This is what makes the NCAA tournament so great. In college basketball, a coach knows that if his team gets into the tourney, anything can happen. While it might be highly unlikely or even virtually impossible, there is still the chance that a team can win it all. This is not the case in the college football, where non-BCS coaches like Boise State's Chris Petersen know that no matter what their team does during the regular season, they will have no shot of playing for the national championship. Boise State is 49-4 over the last four seasons, including two undefeated seasons in which they won a BCS bowl game, yet until a playoff system is created, they will never be among the two teams selected to play in the BCS National Championship. So while college basketball has issues (namely the one-and-done rule*), the great thing about it is that the NCAA tournament exists and that teams like Butler can make improbable runs. Butler playing at home for a chance to win it all (Butler University is six miles away from Lucas Oil Stadium, which will be hosting the Final Four) is a great story, and I'm rooting for them to win a championship for the home crowd. Here are some of my thoughts regarding this weekend's action:


(*Quick tangent about the one-and-done rule-- Skip to next paragraph if you want to avoid listening to me rant-- There is so much wrong with the one-and-done rule I don't know where to begin. But since I have to start somewhere, let's start with the kids themselves. Forcing a kid to go to college for one year instead of entering his name in the NBA draft is ridiculous. If a high-school kid wants to enter the NBA, he should have that right. There are also many options available if it doesn't work out for him, including the D-league and playing professionally in Europe. College is not for everyone, so they shouldn't be forced to wait a year to play in the NBA. That's why I admire what Brandon Jennings did. He has his issues, but at least he was innovative. Secondly, the rule hurts college coaches. Coaches spend a significant amount of their recruiting resources trying to land the best players possible. When a one-and-done like Kevin Durant or Derrick Rose attends your university, you know he will probably leave after one year. But it's the players that aren't ready for the NBA that declare anyways that hurt the most. For example, Jrue Holiday left UCLA after only one year, despite the fact that he wasn't even close to being ready. UCLA was then stuck with a gigantic hole at the point position only a year after recruiting the top guard in the nation. Thirdly, the rule only benefits the NBA. Scouts get a chance to see players perform against better competition. For reasons stated above, it definitely doesn't help the coaches. Fourthly, the rule makes a sham out of the concept of "student-athletes". Take John Wall, for example. Everyone knows he will be the number one pick in June's draft. He signs with Kentucky knowing this as well. He gets eligible for the Fall Semester (ending in December) and then plays out the basketball season (ending in late March or early April). Then after the basketball season, he starts working out for pro scouts. He has no need to attend class or to stay eligible. So basically he attends school for half a year before becoming pro. Why not just let him go to the NBA directly out of high school? So here is my solution: Adopt the baseball rule, but tweak it a bit. If a kid wants to play in the NBA right away, let him. But if he signs with a school, he has to stay for two years. This way, all the potential one-and-dones will have to choose between NBA right away, or attending two years of college. This forces players to actually stay eligible for three whole semesters (or 4 quarters) and it gives coaches the luxury of knowing they will have their star recruits for two seasons. I think it is a win-win all around. End of rant and back to the point of this blog post.)

Michigan State's Tom Izzo might be the best coach in college basketball. This is his sixth Final Four team, and he continues to make deep runs each year despite his team's lack of potential NBA talent. I have learned to never count out MSU when it comes time to fill out the brackets. This Spartans team is no different. Despite losing starting point guard and leader Kalin Lucas to a season-ending injury, the Spartans have continued to roll. They face Butler on Saturday and are in search of their second straight championship game appearance. I think Michigan State has just as good of a shot to cut down the nets as anyone.

Bob Huggins amazes me as well. Coach Huggins has turned his alma-mater into a legitimate basketball powerhouse. Huggins has been successful in all three of his major coaching stops (Cincinnati, Kansas State, and now West Virginia), and he is on the precipice of winning his first championship. I have West Virginia over as favorites over Duke on Saturday. I mean, how can you root against a guy with a clothing style as great as Huggie's? In all seriousness, I think the Mountaineers have the size, length, and athleticism to defeat the Blue Devils. West Virginia plays tough defense and I think the Dukies are going to struggle to put up points. Speaking of struggling to score..

Kentucky can't shoot. I mean, wow! I have never seen a team so good struggle so bad. UK started off 0 for 20 (!!) from 3 point land against the Mountaineers in their regional final game. The Wildcats consistently had good looks and just could not knock them down. In many cases, they were not even close. This has plagued many of Coach Cal's teams throughout his coaching career. He recruits the best raw talent and the most athletic players, but they often struggle shooting free-throws and three pointers (unless the shooting includes a player's cousin and a gun). It wouldn't kill Coach Cal to recruit a Lee Humphries- type player to space the floor. It was too easy for West Virginia to pack it in on defense. They dared Kentucky to beat them from deep and it was almost laughable to watch them continue to throw up bricks (laughable unless you're Ashley Judd, of course).

Lastly, I think that Butler's Gordon Hayward might be my new favorite player. He is 6'9", can shoot, drive, rebound and pass. He is tough despite being slender. And he is a good athlete. He had 22 points and 9 rebounds against K-State on Saturday. I think he is a good NBA draft prospect and I could see him in the Top 20 if he declares. I'm looking forward to seeing what he has in store for the upcoming game against Michigan State, but I'm expecting big things.

Time for predictions: I have Michigan State surviving against Butler and West Virginia over Duke. In the title game, I have Coach Huggins over Coach Izzo as the Mountaineers will take a title home to Morgantown. Besides, who wouldn't root for a team who has a fan with this sweatshirt) As usual, these predictions are likely to go wrong. Feel free to post your predictions in the comments thread.