You can obviously tell from the relative emptiness of the stands that we arrived early.  By the time the first game started, the place was packed.  This was my first trip to Lucas Oil Stadium.  If you’ve never been, let me just tell you, the place is mammoth.  I don’t see how anyone sitting in the 600’s could see the court without the aid of the Hubble Space Telescope, but I suppose the enormous video screens in the corners and above center court were a big help.  For our part, we could actually watch the game on-court and reasonably follow the action.  The entire experience was memorable, to say the least.

One More Game

How ’bout them Bulldogs? I have to say that I am beyond impressed with their tenacity, their toughness, and the way they simple find ways to win.  I will not venture into too much game analysis, since those of you watching on TV probably have a better grip on the game stats than I do.  Be assured, though, that we in the stadium were well aware that both Butler and Michigan State had gone nearly 10 minutes in the second half with nary a field goal.  While we were all biting our nails down to the final (missed) Spartan shot, still, we just had that feeling that they were going to win yet again.

One of the coolest moments of the evening was when Draymond Green missed his attempt at the go-ahead basket in the closing seconds.  Suddenly all of these Butler fans in West-Virginia yellow and Duke blue stood to their feet and roared in approval.  This wasn’t Rocky.  That was a few season ago when no one took Butler seriously.  No, this was Rocky II, when the underdog had earned his respect, and now nearly everyone was in his corner.  I received high fives from people I had never met – a truly special moment.

Then There Was That Other Game

Is there anything more frightening than a Duke team playing its best basketball in the NCAA Tournament?  The story of Butler-Michigan State was how both teams had arrived on this hallowed ground by winning in dramatic fashion, sometimes by the hair of their chinny-chin-chins.  A short review of fighting Kroojewooskies’ path to the championship game reveals a very different story.  None of their final scores have been anything even remotely resembling "close", and the only team so far to even challenge them late into the game was Baylor.  Do not let the injury to Da’Sean Butler fool you.  Duke whipped West Virginia in every phase of the game start to finish.  We left the stadium at the five minute mark to beat the traffic.

Now, understandably, Duke is the prohibitive favorite to win tomorrow night, and Butler will face its toughest test of what has been a magical run.  Nevertheless, I do not think we can look at previous games and say things like, "Well, if Duke shoots like they did last night, Butler has no chance."  If there is one thing Butler has done successfully and consistently throughout the tournament, it is take opponents OUT of what they do best.  After all, haven’t we heard this line reasoning before?

• If Derrick Caracter (UTEP) plays like he did in the Conference USA tournament, Butler has no chance.
• If Murray State plays like they did against Vanderbilt, Butler has no chance.
• Forget Onuaku.  If Wes Johnson (Syracuse) plays like he did in the first two rounds, Butler has no chance.
• Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente scored 63 points between them in Kansas State’s victory over Xavier.  Butler has no chance.
• This is Tom Izzo.  This is March.  This Big Ten basketball.  This is Lucious and Green and Allen and Morgan.  Butler has no chance.

Yes, tomorrow we have Coach K, Singler, Scheyer, Nolan Smith, the Plumlee twins and Zooooob (at least that’s what the guy behind me kept hollering every time he touched the ball).  Butler has no chance, unless of course they do what they always do, and that is make it impossible for Duke to play their game, make their shots, and generally get anything accomplished at all.  If they can do that, then maybe, just maybe, Butler has a chance at the impossible.  If they pull it off, the only unanswered question after tomorrow night’s game will be who is going to play Gordon Hayward in the movie.  Zach Efron, perhaps?

Contest Update

After three weeks of madness it has come down to six folks who picked Butler and 44 folks who picked Duke.  Of the six who picked Butler, one and only one picked them from the beginning, making that pick a true-blue Scategories pick.  The other five contestants chose them on a re-pick, which is still worth 30 points.  The Duke bandwagon, while relatively small, is still too big to be Scategories-worthy, but it still carries 32 or 30 points if they win, depending on if you used a re-pick or not.

Ironically, the contestant currently in first place cannot win the contest. Out of sympathy for her plight, I will give the Kobiashi Award For No-Win Scenarios to Christina "Mad Dog" Klinker, who, though she has Butler picked to win it all, is not far enough ahead of JulieH, the contestant who made the Scategories Butler pick, to beat her in the case that Butler wins.  If Duke wins the championship, Cayden Bauschek will live up to his alias ("I’ll be back in first") and win the contest.  Others will move up, of course, but these are the two contestants competing for the coveted Jeff’s March Madness Contest championship.

Tune in late tomorrow night for the final contest commentary and awards.