Happy Underdog Day!

Picked surprisingly high, Hayward, right, fit right in in Utah

The 2010 Underdogs of the Year were the Butler Bulldogs.  In their memorable run in last years NCAA tournament, this "Mid-Major" upstart out of Northern Indianapolis came within a half-court heave of winning the whole enchilada in the Championship game against Duke.  They weren't satisfied by simply shocking the world in making the Final Four, they actually thought they could win it all.  No one else believed in this Cinderella story then but they made people believe.  Then after the season Butler lost their best player to the NBA, when Gordon Hayward went ninth overall to the (you guessed it) Utah Jazz, and the writing was on the wall.  It was time for them to come back to Earth and settle back into their rightful place among the relatively inconsequential middle class of College Hoops, right?  To just be satisfied with another Horizon League title and hope to maybe make it past the first round in the NCAA Tourney, like most Mid-Majors.  Right?  Um… no.  Butler didn’t get the memo.

Defying even longer odds this year and destroying virtually every bracket in the country (along with Virginia Commonwealth… or as most Americans know them, “who?”), the Bulldogs have done it again.  They are back in the Final Four for the second straight year, which is an incredible thing just in itself.  But no one has ever done it like this.  The Tourney has known its fair share of Cinderella stories.  Over the last twenty years, George Mason, Gonzaga, and St. Mary’s have topped the list with unlikely runs in the tournament, but only George Mason ever made it the Final Four, doing it in 2006.  Until Butler did it last year.  And now, what???  They’ve done it again!  I think this is an entirely overused word but… That is unbelievable! 

Since that aforementioned 2006 George Mason squad lost to the eventual champion Florida Gators in their Final Four appearance, it seemed fitting that this years Butler squad would also try to make their own Final Four history against the G-men from Gainesville.  And while not nearly as dominant a team as that 2006 team was, the Gators were clicking and playing their best basketball of the season coming into that Elite Eight matchup.  So naturally, as with every single game they’ve played in the tournament for the last two years, Butler was the Underdog.  As a Gator fan I was terrified when our eleven point lead started to slip away with about eight minutes to play, and even more nervous when the Bulldogs forced overtime, behind Shelvin Mack’s brilliant (and infuriating) three-point shooting.  The guy couldn’t miss!  (Which was the only thing keeping them in the game because their supposed “best player” Matt Howard was having an off night.)  The Gators had the better talent, but as usual, the Butler Bulldogs proved to be more than the sum of their parts, and willed another win in overtime.  Ugh.  It was a really tough one to take as a Gator fan.  But as a hoops fan, I gotta give it up.  Butler deserved it.  Which should surprise no one at this point.  These guys are making the Cinderella story into something much more routine.     

So now, at last, we come to the Final Four.  And what’s the first game up?  The Underdog Showdown of course!  Butler, (a team that beat the 1^st, 2^nd, 4^th, and 9^th ranked teams in their bracket division) against Virginia Commonwealth, (who beat the 1^st, 3^rd, 6^th, and 10^th  ranked teams on their side, and had to win a play-in game just to be listed in the field of 64.)  If VCU wins the whole thing they will be the only team to ever play seven games in the tourney.  Um, yea.  The Underdogs have turned this thing upside down!  Nobody knows what’s going to happen in this tournament anymore, and that is really an amazing tribute to how brilliant the run to the College Basketball Tournament has become.  It’s not just about the marquee names, it’s about how five guys can jell together on the court and whether or not they can execute in the clutch moments.  You have to earn it.  And it makes College hoops really special.  Could you imagine schools like Butler or Virginia Commonwealth playing in the College Football National Championship game?  Impossible. 

Such an interesting word, impossible.

I don’t think the guys on those VCU or Butler squads know what it means.

Happy Underdog Day!!!
and Enjoy the Game!