March Madness Limps to the Finish Line

They are the Little Engine that Couldn't. Two years in a row the Butler Bulldogs have taken the nation by storm, advancing all the way to the National Championship game, and last night they lost again, this time to Connecticut. In what may have been the ugliest championship game of all-time, UConn and coach Jim Calhoun won the school's third title, all since 1999. It was no small feat considering that the Huskies finished ninth in the Big East and then reeled off five wins in five nights to win the conference tournament and then won six games in the NCAA Tournament. They went undefeated in tournaments and on neutral courts and featured arguably the best player in the nation, Kemba Walker, and a host of talented freshmen. Butler brought back almost every key piece from last year's run and it seemed as though they would win the big one this year. However, they struggled from start to finish and will keep the national runner-up description.

It started off bad when Shelvin Mack had a three pointer blocked and missed two easy layups and it only got worse from there. The Bulldogs shot a horrendous 19% from the field and there may as well have been a lid on the basket. Mack led the team with 13 points on 4-15 shooting. All of his field goals were from deep, where Butler managed to make nine treys. However, they finished the game 9-33 from behind the arc which is good for 27%. It was a historical shooting display for all the wrong reasons and it cost Butler the national championship. It's not that they played bad and it's not that UConn played well. Butler did what they normally do. They were scrappy, played good defense and worked the clock on offense, but they could not get a shot to fall from anywhere and that's why they lost. People cannot make a big deal of Kemba Walker because his play wasn't that great by his standards either. He had almost single-handedly carried the Huskies to the championship game but he shot 5-19 and did not have one assist last night. Butler executed their game plan but the shots didn't fall.

It's a sad ending to a fairy tale story. The Dawgs advanced to the championship game last year, in their hometown, and had a halfcourt shot just miss that would have been a game winner. This year they made a remarkable return but fell short again. However, the ending may be sad but take time to appreciate what just happened. This may never happen again but, somehow, Butler did it. They advanced to the championship game twice. Small schools don't do that. That's reserved for the UCLAs and Kentuckys of the world. It would have been nice to see Butler celebrate last night but it wasn't meant to be. Surely the will be back in the tournament next year but we shouldn't expect to see them in our Final Four brackets. If they are then it is the most impressive thing in college basketball since UCLA's winning streak.

For Jim Calhoun and UConn it was a great ending to a remarkable run. Left for dead and sitting at ninth place in the Big East tournament, Kemba and the boys went on an 11-game winning steak to capture the school's third national championship. Calhoun now joins elite company (John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, Bob Knight, Mike Krzyzewski) as one of only five coaches to win three championships with the same school. He has won them all since 99 and each time the Huskies came out of the West Region. UConn also became the first Big East school to win the championship since the conference expanded back in 2005. In 2004 the Huskies won the title and started a freshman but since then, no championship team has started a freshman. Last night this UConn team put three out on the floor to start the game. If you watched UConn from start to finish this season you could see the improvement of the players. Jeremy Lamb had a great tournament and became a force on the offensive end. Shabazz Napier, another freshman, ran the point which allowed Kemba to work off the ball and get more open shots. Alex Oriakhi was the inside prescence a team needs and he recorded a double-double last night in the championship. They started the year as a one man show but ended the year as a complete team.

It was a great win for UConn and a sad loss for Butler but the thing that people will always remember about this game is how poor it was. Neither team shot the ball well and Butler barely managed 40 points. It's a sad ending to what was a great tournament. Two mid-majors made the Final Four, no one or two seeds made it to Houston and brackets were busted early and often with plenty of upsets. This will surely be a March Madness to remember but it would have been nice to see it end in a better fashion. However, it did not and now we can start to look into next season. Stay tuned for an update of the preseason top 25 for next year and congratulations to the UConn Huskies on winning their third national championship.

(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) (AP Photo/Eric Gay)