INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler Bulldogs’ trip to the Final Four in Indianapolis was made possible after stepping up in the underdog role and playing great defense to knock off No. 1 Syracuse 63-59 and No. 2 Kansas State 63-58.

In the Syracuse win the Bulldogs took Orangeman guard Andy Rautins right off his game, never giving him a chance to set the pace and holding him to 15 points and against Kansas State they held guards Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente to a combined .366 shooting percentage from the floor and a lone basket in the entire first half.

With all the games in the Final Four expected to be tight contests, the Bulldogs (32-4) are expected to again turn to defense to get past their next opponent Michigan State (28-8).

“You’ve got four teams that very much believe in their teammates, that very much believe in the systems and styles of play and they very much believe in defending. That’s obvious,” said Butler coach Brad Stevens.

The Michigan Sideline agrees. With their star and leading scorer, Kalin Lucas (15.2 points-per-game), in street clothes on the sideline nursing a ruptured Achilles’ tendon, they are also expected to come into the game thinking defense.

With Lucas on the bench, the Spartans’ leading scorer is averaging just 11 points a game.

Michigan State has gotten this far in the season by holding their opponents to 40.8 percent shooting and many games have dominated the boards.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has taken his team to the Final Four 6 out of the past 12 years and knows it will take a team effort to pull off a trip to the championship game.

“It’s going to be a little bit refreshing to have to watch and say, ‘How did that team do that?’ Not, ‘how did Magic Johnson or Carmelo Anthony do that? It really speaks to what team sports are about.”

Tip-off is Saturday at 6:07EST in Indianapolis.

In the other match-up the West Virginia Mountaineers (31-6) take on the Duke Blue Devils (33-5) with that tip-off at 8:47 EST.

Like the MSU and Butler game, this match-up is also expected to be physical and a lot about defense.

“It’s not going to be about fast breaking and beating you in transition,” said West Virginia guard Da’Sean Butler. “Playing ‘D’ rebounding, playing a rugged style that no one wants to watch. We usually win when we do those things.”

The Mountaineers are on a great roll and have won every game since Feb. 22.

On the other sideline, Duke is the only No. 1 seed left in the tournament. The Blue Devils were able to overcome under-achieving scoring performances by their top players in a few of the games leading up to this Final Four and advanced with stellar defensive play and by crashing the boards.

Surrounding their 7-foot center, Brian Zoubek, with several more players at 6-8 or taller, the Blue Devils had a 560-443 advantage this season on the offensive boards.

“Our team totally wants to rebound and play defense,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “It’s much different than some Duke teams of the past. But they’ve accepted what they are, which is good, and they’ve tried to become better at who they are.”

More March Madness: NCAA Bracket – NCAA.com

This is Why March’s Last Name is “Madness” – Sports Climax 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

As we spring ahead our clocks, March Madness is creeping that much closer to tip-off. While everyone starts to put the finishing touches on one of their 5 brackets in 3 different pools, do we ever stop and think that no matter how many of these damn things we do we’re still going to have so many gaping holes?

If only we could combine all five for one super bracket. Well for myself and the million others I think that is part of the beauty of this madness.

When the 2010 brackets came out there were a few things that came to mind. First off I think the committee did a great job picking the tourney this year. For those that were left out in the Alaskan cold I can’t say it’s the committee’s fault.

To the three saddest teams in America: Virginia Tech, Mississippi State and Arizona State, I looked over your resume and I can only give Miss. State the benefit of the doubt on this one. They played Kentucky into OT twice and have three wins against teams in the tournament Old Dominion, Vanderbilt, and Florida.

Arizona State you went 12-6 in the weakest power conference, which isn’t bad, but you only beat Washington and Arkansas Pine Bluff and even though you played a great non-conference schedule you lost to all three of those tournament bound teams. So in my mind the best place for you was the NIT.

Virginia Tech who I thought was the biggest snub at first but when digging deeper saw that your best non-conference win was Seton Hall who is an NIT team and of your three quality wins against tournament foes, none of those teams are higher than a No. 7 seed. The two teams in question that made it from the ACC ahead of you Georgia Tech and Wake Forest both have five wins against tournament bound teams and have beaten much better teams like Duke, Maryland, and Butler.

Now on to the actual bracket without a second glance its seems obvious to me which No. 1 seed got a cake walk of draw and which one got stuck fighting off the wolves of the pack.

The #1 overall seed Kansas has got to deal with Ohio State, Georgetown, Maryland, Michigan State, and Tennessee. I name Tennessee because even though they are a sixth seed they have beaten Kansas and Kentucky and have a great coach in Bruce Pearl. Michigan State is the toughest No. 5 seed I can remember because who wants to face Tom Izzo and the always dangerous Spartans.

If you don’t know ask Uconn, Louisville, and Kansas last year. Oh by the way you also have two very capable final four teams in Ohio St. and Georgetown. Ohio St has the best player in the country in Evan Turner and Hoyas have great inside and outside presence. The Hoyas have been streaky this year but when their playing well they can beat anyone at any time. They dominated Duke and have beaten Syracuse, Villanova, and lost by only two points in the Big East Championship game to West Virginia.

The opposite of this bracket is the South region where the Duke Blue Devils sit as the #1 seed. I feel like Dick Vitale made up this region. Dickey V has quite the man crush on the Blue Devil’s program and has for years. Villanova who has lost 5 of their last 7 games is the No. 2 seed. Baylor who is the three seed is a good team that only has two bad loses all year, but there still the Baylor Bears and this is a stage that their not accustomed to being on.

The fourth seed Purdue is about as sorry as a No. 4 seed can get since they lost their second leading scorer and defensive leader Robbie Hummel to injury. They have look lackluster since that injury barely beating the bottom feeders of the Big Ten and then got blown out by Minnesota by 27 in the Big Ten Tourney.

My picks from the sweet sixteen on go a little like this.

In the Midwest I like Kansas, Michigan State, Georgetown and Ohio St. No surprises here these are the best teams in the bracket and I’ll take Tom Izzo’s five final fours over Maryland’s squad even though I feel they are pretty evenly matched.

Izzo’s magic is no secret come tournament time. From here I do like Kansas and Ohio St. advancing. The Jayhawks just have too much firepower this year and will be looking for revenge after the Spartans ended their season last year in heartbreaking fashion. Ohio St. and Georgetown is a tossup and I’ll use my Midwest biases here and take the Buckeyes. In the Elite 8 matchup I have to go with the Depth and star power of the Jayhawks to beat the Buckeyes.

In the West I like Syracuse, Butler, Xavier, and Kansas State. Butler played a difficult non-conference schedule winning some games losing others but were in every game and then went undefeated in conference play. I think the winner of their first round matchup with UTEP makes the sweet sixteen. Xavier I like upsetting Pittsburgh because although they started slow they’ve been playing better in an underrated Atlantic 10 conference and Xavier has always been a tough outcome tournament time. I like Syracuse and Kansas State Advancing with Syracuse making it to the Final four joining the Jayhawks.

In the East bracket I like Kentucky, Wisconsin, Marquette, and West Virginia. Kentucky should handle the defense of the badgers pretty easily with their athletic ability. In a Big East matchup for the second time this season I think West Virginia beats Marquette in a tight game and heads to Syracuse to face Kentucky. In this Elite 8 matchup I like the Mountaineers Offensive rebounding and experience to upset the young Kentucky Wildcats. Sorry John Calipari, I just don’t see your freshman sensations getting it done against the tenacity of the Big East tournament champs West Virginia.

In the South Bracket I like Duke, Texas A&M, Richmond, and Baylor. I like the Aggies here to upset Duke with their solid defense and ability to get to the free throw line. I have not been high on Duke all year and feel the ACC was the second weakest power conference in America and think that they will get bounced in the round of 16.

I like Baylor to advance also to the Elite 8 in nearby Houston by beating 7th seeded Richmond in a close contest. I love Richmond’s team and their A-10 player of the year Chris Anderson but I think playing so close to home for Baylor is a huge factor in advancing this round. I like Baylor beating Texas A&M in a Big 12 clash and advancing to their first final four in school history.

My Final Four I like West Virginia beating Baylor and Kansas upending Syracuse. In the Finals I think the best team in the tourney survives and Bill Self brings home the title for the Jayhawks.

My Sleeper teams that could make some NOISE!

Richmond 7 seed
UTEP 12 seed
Siena 13 seed
BYU 7th seed

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™