Title Game: Dire Circumstances, Devils & Dogs

Since this pairing in the title game will make one throw those 3 initials out and a question mark (wtf?), let me clear this road to the Final 4 for both these teams. To begin, after observing the Butler Bulldogs in recent years, it is my opinion that they transfer from the Horizon League to a more competitive conference such as the Missouri Valley for instance. They would match up with such teams as Northern Iowa, Wichita State, Creighton etc. as oppose to the level of competition they face in the Horizon and would NOT go undefeated in THAT conference...I can think of a few MVC venues they would almost certainly take losses in. The Horizon League has some decent teams, notably Wright State, Cleveland State and the Wisconsin schools, but after this year and other than Cleveland State's breakout LY-I have determined that its not even close between them and the Bulldogs.
Duke had a good run in the ACC, and it was easy to see that they got a bit tougher this year than the last 2. They got the 4th No. 1 seed...some would say they didn't deserve it but they are in the title game, obviously making the most of it. Both teams faced serious gauntlets to get this far, but let me clarify the breaks...and there were alot of them. We would not be having this commentary right now about these two teams if normalcies were at work.
Here's an outline of each sequence:

Butler Bulldogs
Round 1 vs. UTEP: Butler beats CUSA regular season champ UTEP; expected, mildly impressive. Big 2nd half, 77-59 win.

Round 2 vs. Murray State: Instead of Vanderbilt, Butler faces OVC champ Murray State-likely an easier matchup for them. Butler holds on 54-52 in a close one.

Round 3 vs. Syracuse: Syracuse center (Onuaku) out 3rd game straight. Butler holds off disrupted Orange who find it hard getting into a rhythm and succumb to the half court game. Butler wins 63-59.

Round 4 vs. Kansas State: Kansas State tired from double OT win over Xavier (101-96), gets a short breather before having to face a fresher Butler team. K-State was able to stay close, but also succame to the slower game tempo-generating a low scoring loss for the Wildcats. Butler wins, 63-56.

Round 5 (Final 4) vs. Michigan State: Michigan State's 3rd game without starting PG Lucas, although impressive w/o him in close wins over Northern Iowa, Tennessee. MSU had no transtion motives with Luscious at the PG spot. Played a half court game into Butlers hands, got into foul trouble. MSU short a key ball handler. Bulldogs win 52-50 and make the title game.

Duke Blue Devils
Round 1 vs. Pine Bluff: Duke gets the last tournament team in- the "play-in" winner,
Arkansas Pine-Bluff. APB is crushed, 73-44.

Round 2 vs. California: Instead of facing the more physical Louisville matchup, they get a similar team to themselves, the finesse, shooter heavy Cal Golden Bears. With more size and toughness, Duke pulls away from Cal, 68-53 final.

Round 3 vs. Purdue: Purdue got a 4 seed in the tournament b/c of play down the stretch w/o their best player, and injured center Hummel. Purdue got through the 1st 2 rounds through this setback, eventually losing to Duke, 70-57. Clearly would have been a different game with PU @ 100%.

Round 4 vs. Baylor: Baylor should have a 4 pt. lead with 3 mins to go, instead Duke center doesn't get his 5th foul, draws imaginary charge and Duke gets the ball back with momentum. Duke capitalizes, hits 3's and a single tech. assessed to a Baylor player, and not Duke guard Scheyer for swinging elbows. Duke gets by Baylor, predominantly on refs calls to close the game. Duke wins, 78-71.

Round 5 (Final 4) vs. West Virginia: West Virginia's 3rd game without starting PG Truck Bryant. Mazulla played well previous 2 vs. Washington, Kentucky but is a limited scoring option. Not much of a threat yesterday as WV struggled to find a rhythm. Duke's top 3 scorers (Singler, Scheyer, Smith) also had big games. A WV team w/ Bryant would have been a more dangerous draw for the Devils. Kudos to Duke on the win, but yesterday they didn't face the same West Virginia team that co-dominated the Big East this year. Duke wins big, 78-57.

Niether of these teams are the 2 best in college basketball this year, they both capitalized on unforseeable circumstances and favorable draws/matchups. Nonetheless, congratulations are in order for both of them as they had to overcome tremendous odds to reach this title game.