Final Four Predictions from a Busted Bracket

Posted by Craig Leger in Uncategorized on April 1st, 2010 | no responses

One of the best weekend’s in national sports is finally upon us and 65 teams have been dwindled to four as Michigan State, Butler, Duke, and West Virginia head to Indianapolis to compete in the NCAA tournament’s Final Four. If you had these four teams in your bracket, you probably stole the almanac from the future, Marty.

If you are participating in a Final Four bracket or consolation round, you should probably check out the Final Four Odds so you don’t end up crumpling up your bracket half-way through the first quarter of game one like so many people did a couple weeks ago.

Let’s take a look at the match-ups.

Butler vs. Michigan State

Saturday, 4/3 @ 6:07 p.m.

Neither the Spartans nor the Bulldogs were ever expected to make it this far. In fact, of 30 teams in the 4SportBoston Bracket Challenge, only one had either of these teams making it to the Final Four and even “Danny P” only had Butler. He’s been riding their hot streak straight to the Championship and I have to admit that I made fun of him for it when the tourney began.

Butler has been able to strong-arm opponents throughout the tournament. Starting out as a five seed in the West bracket, Butler beat UTEP 77-59 in the opening round, 13th ranked Murray State 54-52 in the second round, the Champion-hopeful (at least in my bracket) number one seed Syracuse 63-59 in the Sweet 16, and number two seed Kansas State 63-56 in the Elite Eight.

Michigan State has really had the luck of the draw in the tournament so far and may be the least tested Final Four team remaining. Entering the tourney as a number five seed, they beat 12th seed New Mexico 70-67 in the opening round, fourth seed Maryland 85-83 in the second round, ninth seed (and potential 2010 Cinderella team who beat Kansas a round earlier, the top seed overall) Northern Iowa 59-52 in the Sweet 16, and sixth seed Tennessee in the Elite Eight 70-69.

The Spartans are without their star point-guard Kalin Lucas and reports from everywhere in Michigan is that this loss is a non-issue at this point and the Spartans have been successful with Korie Lucious running the show since the Maryland game. Butler, however, is boasting a shut-down defense that struck through two of the best offenses in college basketball in Syracuse and Kansas State.

Two fifth seeds matching up in the Final Four and only one out of thirty people could even predict one of them? I am riding the “Danny P” Railroad while it lasts.

My prediction:

Butler Bulldogs by 6

Duke vs. West Virginia

Saturday, 4/3 @ 8:47 p.m.

Everybody hates the Dukies. Everyone that doesn’t have a degree from there anyway, and probably some that do. But why the hate? Duke is the NY Yankees of college basketball (without the huge dollar signs on players… at least, supposedly). You either love them or you hate them and most of the country chooses the latter.

West Virginia is the complete opposite. Besides being coached by Bob Huggins, who sort of falls under that same “love him or hate him” mentality, West Virginia is a team that gained momentum, and fans, on their march to the Big East title.

Duke is the only remaining number one seed in the tournament and they have one of the most tournament-tested coaches in college basketball history. This one should be easy, right? Let’s see how they got here. The Dukies started off with the usual first round demolishing of the 16th rank team in AR Pine Bluff 73-44, they beat eighth seed California in the second round 68-53, fourth seed Purdue in the Sweet 16 70-57, and third seeded Baylor in the Elite Eight 78-71. Good scoring margins for the Blue Devils.

Second seeded West Virginia is the second highest seed team reamining. The Mountaineers opened up the tournament with a 77-50 win over 15th seeded Morgan State, 10th seed Missouri 68-59, 11th seed Washington 69-56 in the Sweet 16, and John Wall and the number one seed Kentucky Wildcats 73-66 in the Elite Eight.

This match-up was a little more popular in the 4SB Bracket Challenge with seven contestants picking West Virginia to make the Final Four (two picked them to win it all) and nine contestants picking Duke to make the Final Four (one picking them to take the title).

Duke’s biggest worry headed into this game should be the play of Kyle Singler, who went 0-for-10 against Baylor in the last round. Between Singler and Scheyer, the Blue Devils are a huge threat from beyond the arc on every position but Bob Huggins will be throwing his 1-3-1 defensive scheme at them to try and negate that threat. This formation allowed the Mountaineers to force the Kentucky Wildcats to miss their first 20 three-pointers inthe Elite Eight match-up.

Duke is used to playing with jeering fans screaming at them and the state of West Virginia’s proximity to Indy is certainly going to help here.

My prediction:

West Virginia Mountaineers by 10

That’s right. I did it. I picked them to make it to the big game in my original bracket and I am standing by it and in a big way.

So, we are staring right down the barrel of a Butler Bulldogs vs. West Virginia Mountaineers NCAA Championship game, in my own opinion. Who would have predicted this match-up just a short two weeks ago?

This is what NCAA basketball is all about and in the famous words that used to play on my Jock Jams cds for hours while playing ball in the driveway as a kid,