2011 NCAA National Championship: It's Gonna be a Dog Fight

Houston, no problem here.

It's the Butler Bulldogs vs. Connecticut Huskies for the 2011 NCAA Basketball National Championship. Even though it's not the game everyone foresaw when the bracket came out, how could fans complain about the outcome of the tournament.

First off, if you had Butler vs UConn in the title game, "Holy Crap." According to ESPN, 5.9 million brackets were entered in their Tournament Challenge and only 881 picked a Butler-Connecticut title game. Yours truly, finished in the 42.8% percentile and was ranked a solid 3,389,291. Maybe next year I will do better.

With the title game tonight the tournament and March Madness come to a close and it has been one of the best tournaments in recent memory. It seems like almost every game came down to the wire and with CBS and Turner teaming up, fans didn't miss a single moment. For the exception of Ohio States' first two games and the rest of the 1-16 and 2-15 matchups, the games were very competitive. Even (15) Long Island University gave the (2) North Carolina Tar Heels a game in the first round.

Dickie V was on Mike and Mike this morning and he made the comment that the quality of play is down, with the one and done rule (that's an argument for another day), but the competition has never been better. Agree, 100%. I think fans would rather have great games with less great players, than blowouts with superstars.

Take the Kentucky Wildcats for example, if they had returned stars like John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Beldsoe, they might have gone undefeated as Charles Barkley pointed out this past weekend. Instead they went 4-12 from the free throw line and 9-27 from downtown en route to a one point loss in the Final Four against UConn.

Would you rather have Kentucky go undefeated and demolished everyone in their path on the way to the national title, or have no clear cut great team and have 40 quality basketball games in the NCAA tournament? We know what Big Blue Nation would want, but I'd rather see the latter. It's more entertaining from a fans perspective to see lots of great games from different teams, than see one team dominate it all.

That's what makes the NCAA tournament so special, on any given night, any team, and I mean any team, can win, aka VCU or Butler. Just get in the tournament and what you did during the season means absolutely nothing. On Selection Sunday, all the analysts were saying how VCU shouldn't have even been in the tournament. The run by VCU from playing in the first four out game in Dayton, to the Final Four, may never be seen again and the job head coach Shaka Smart did with the VCU Rams is incredible. That will silence some of those doubters.

The 2011 NCAA tournament had it's share of spectacular moments, Cinderella stories, monumental upsets, questionable calls and no calls, an 11 seed in the Final Four and a school from the Horizon League, going to the title game for the second straight year. What other sporting event can offer you that? None.

So, in this year of crazy college basketball and a wild and exciting tournament, it's only fitting that Butler plays UConn for the title. It's one of the most unlikely title game matchups in the history of the tournament, but could go down as one of the best.

Connecticut has been on an amazing run the past three weeks, winning five straight game in five straight days in the Big East tournament and winning five more in the NCAA's. They are lead by a Hall of Fame head coach, Jim Calhoun, who would join John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, Bob Knight and Mike Krzyzewski as the only coaches to win three or more national championships. Pretty good company.

The Huskies are undefeated in tournament play this year, from winning the Maui Invitational in November, to the Big East Tournament and now the NCAA's. They are led by one of the best players in the country in Kemba Walker, who has been nothing but sensational. Along with freshman Jeremy Lamb and three other freshman, UConn has been the hottest team in the country and even though they finished 9-9 in the Big East, they are one of the final two teams standing.

Then there are the Butler Bulldogs, who have been here before. Last year, Butler almost pulled off a storybook ending against Duke, with a half court shot at the buzzer that hit off the backboard and then fell off the rim. No one thought Butler would be back to the Final Four this year, not after losing their best player, Gordan Hayward to the NBA, and starting the season 14-9. No one, except head coach Brad Stevens and the Butler Bulldogs.

Butler was able to make a run and won the Horizon League conference tournament to clinch a spot in the NCAA tournament field and started off right where they left off last year. Not many had them getting by Old Dominion in the first round, but Matt Howard's layup at the buzzer allowed them to advance. They had a wild game against number one seed Pitt and sent them home early. Wisconsin and Florida couldn't make a three pointer in a basket the size of a truck because of Butler's stellar defense and they ended the incredible run by VCU in the Final Four. Now Butler is back in the title game, once again against one of the crown jewels of college basketball.

Brad Stevens is only 34 years old and already looks like a Hall a Famer. He is one of the best in-game coaches in the country and on Monday night he goes against Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun, who is in the midst of the best coaching job of his long career. Butler has, according to the New York Times, a basketball budget of $1.7 million. UConn's, $5.5 million. UConn plays in arguably the best conference, the Big East. Butler plays in the Horizon League, so you could call them a mid-major. A mid-major doesn't make the to the national championship in back-to-back seasons, and Butler is no mid-major.

I think UConn will cut down the nets, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if Butler gets it done this time. Butler knows how to win games in the tournament and how to be teams from the power six conferences, so don't expect anything but a close game.

The stars will certainly be shining in Houston.