Last Seconds

Here is a video from the last seconds of the championship game.

http://sportscasm.com/2010/04/05/matt-howards-punishing-screen-on-dukes-kyle-singler-video/

Champs Crowned

In a spectacular game, Duke prevailed over Butler in a down to the wire dog fight, 61-59. It was a close game throughout, in which no team led by more than seven points the entire game. Butler was stymied down low, and relied on perimeter scoring throughout the game. Duke's senior center, Brian Zoubek, was fouled with 3.6 second left in the 4th quarter. Duke was down by one. Zoubek stepped to the line and hit one of two free throws, missing the second shot on purpose in order to keep Butler in a panicked state. They had no time outs left in the game. Butler star Gordan Hayward snatched the rebound, ran down the court, and threw up a good looking half court heave at the buzzer. The hearts of the nation (especially Indianapolis) stopped just for a moment, and then, the ball bounced off of the back and front of the rim and bounced out. Duke had triumphed and rightfully so. They had cleanly won one of the most memorable games in tournament championship history. Congratulations to Duke for winning, and to Butler for a fantastic season. I can't wait for next year!

The National Championship

It is finally here! The game that sports fans around the country have been waiting for. Finally, after sixty-three teams have seen there hopes and dreams dashed away, two teams still keep that hope alive. This game is the true definition of David vs. Goliath. The matchup sets the underdog #5 Butler Bulldogs up against the favorited and powerful #1 Duke Blue Devils. This is the first time that Butler has ever gotten this deep in the tournament in school history, and you have to think that if they ever were going to win it, it would be this year. Gordan Hayward played brilliantly in the last game against Michigan St. The Bulldogs pulled off a very close victory in which at one point, Butler did not score a point in over ten minutes. Now, the stage is set for them to go for glory and a championship in their home town. Too bad that it is going to have to take a victory over Duke to do it. Duke is coming off a blowout victory over West Virginia and show no signs of slowing down. The three studs (Singler, Scheyer, and Smith) are playing brilliantly and are poised to bring the hardware back to Durham. Will there be an upset for the ages, or will a storied program be put back atop the mountain? It is going to be fun to watch!

Elite 8 to Final Four

Well the Elite 8 came and went, and the matchups and games were just as spectacular as anyone would have thought. #5 Michigan St. squeaked past #6 Tennessee on a Raymar Morgan free throw that allowed the Spartans to prevail to a 1 point victory and move on to the Final Four. #5 Butler continued its cinderella story, taking down #2 Kansas St. in a close matchup. Gordan Heyward has been brilliant for the bulldogs all tournament long, and hopes h can continue the run in the final four as they go up against Michigan St. West Virginia pulled off a huge win over Kentucky, one of the two #1 seeds still alive at the time, and hope to use that momentum as they are ready to face #1 Duke in the final four, who were able to edge #3 Baylor with relative ease.

So, the Final Four is set. Butler seems to have a slight advantage being that the games are being played in Indianapolis, but anything is possible. One thing is for sure, we are all in for a fantastic Final Four!

Sweet 16

Well, the field has continued to narrow as we are coming even closer to the National Championship. The tournament has finally reached the Sweet 16, and here are the match ups beginning Thursday.
>#9 Northern Iowa vs. #5 Michigan St.
>#6 Tennessee vs. #2 Ohio St.
>#1 Syracuse vs. #5 Butler
>#6 Xavier vs. #2 Kansas St.
>#1 Kentucky vs. #12 Cornell
>#11 Washington vs. #2 West Virginia
>#1 Duke vs. #4 Purdue
>#3 Baylor vs. #10 St. Mary's

For those who love cheering for the underdog, there is a smörgåsbord of double digit seeded teams still in the hunting including Cornell, Washington, and St. Mary's. All of these lower ranked teams have pulled of huge upsets on this journey, not to mention Northern Iowa who just came off a giant victory over #1 Kansas. There are really no sure deals this year, but #1 seeds UK, Syracuse, and Duke are still alive and coming off of dominating performances in the past two rounds. With Kalin Lucas out for the rest of the tourney, look for upset minded N. Iowa to beat Michigan St. and continue on to the Elite 8. Cornell has put on a very impressive performance thus far, so also look for them to give the Kentucky Wildcats a run for their money, but rest assured that John Wall will be doing all he can to make sure time runs out on Cornell's Cinderella story.

St. Mary's player Omar Samhan

Rounds 1 and 2

March Madness is finally upon us, and the NCAA tournament could not be any crazier than anyone would have dreamed. This year's tournament has been filled with upsets and buzzer beaters. Blowouts are hard to come by. In the first day alone, three games went into overtime. No game could be called a sure thing. Ten of the thirty-two first round games resulted in an upset. In fact, #14 seed Ohio, #13 seed Murray State, and #12 seed Cornell all had first round upsets over highly favorited powerhouses Georgetown, Vanderbilt, and Temple. Murray State stole it's victory over Vandy with a last second, fade away shot at the buzzer by Denero Thomas. Buzzer beaters were prevalent in the first round, as Wake Forest and Northern Iowa also clinched victory as the clock wound down to zero. With high seeded teams such as Villanova and New Mexico escaping with victories by the narrowest of margins, all could tell that this year would be wide open, and that no clear champ could be crowned prematurely. All number one seeds dominated their games, but this trend would quickly change as first round competition came to a close, and the sixty-five teams were trimmed down to thirty-two.

In the second round, the trend of cutting down the high seeded teams continued on the first day. #1 overall seed, Kansas, fought a tough onslaught delivered by #9 N. Iowa, and eventually the upset epidemic caught up with the highly touted Jayhawks, as they went down to the underdogs out of the Missouri Valley Conference. Sadly, the glass slipper didn't quite fit for Cinderella stories Murray St. and Ohio, as they both lost their respective games. #1 seeds Kentucky and Syracuse strengthened their championship hopes as they dominated their respective games. #10 St. Mary's kept their Cinderella story alive as they mounted a huge upset over Villanova. Led by their leader and star center, Omar Samhan, St. Mary's hopes to keep the fairytale alive, and eventually make it to the ball in Indianapolis.