Running 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament thread

Duke might be considered the odds-on favorite, but tell me, over the last month, what team is playing basketball better than West Virginia? The games may be fairly ugly, but the 'Neers won the Big East tourney and just beat one of the two best teams in the country by completely dominating the way the game was played. Three weeks ago, there were people saying (including myself) that WVU deserved a one seed over Syracuse and/or Duke.

 

I would love to see West or Butler win it all.
Both programs have worked hard, seemingly played by the rules, and are very talented.
These are going to be two competitive semis games.

Just with the name recognition and past accomplishments at this level, Duke's gonna get lots of Vegas love.

 

Purely from this fan's POV, this is going to be a sucky Final Four. You've got two teams that I absolutely despise (Duke and Michigan State), another whose fans and coach I have very little respect for (West Virginia), and an uppity mid-major that I'm quickly coming to dislike for its pretensions of grandeur (Butler).

 

I love izzo, don't have an opinion of wvu, hate duke and have a lot of respect for butler. I just hope duke loses. That's all I ask of this final four.

 

Correct me if I am wrong but didn't WVU actually knock Duke out of the Tournament two years ago in the second round then lost to Xavier in the Sweet 16?

 

If Butler wins, they won't be pretensions.

 

They'll still be in the Horizon League, won't they?

 

And a national champion.

 

Butler

 

Jesus, the very idea that there's a legitimate possibility that the national champion could come from the Horizon League just boggles my mind.

And I think it's great. You'll never ever see a MAC team given a fair shot at the title in football. I love the fact that it's not only possible in basketball, but there's suddenly a realistic chance.

 

You could probably count on one hand (including Appy State) where small schools have knocked off a major power in a good year on the grid. The game of football just does not lend itself to the huge upset.

It happens all the time in basketball, though.

 

Odds from LV:

Duke favored over WVU by 2.5
Butler favored over Michigan State by 1.5


My FF rooting interests:
1) WVU wins it all
2) Butler wins it all
3) Final Four is canceled due to Izzo/Coach K induction into sainthood