After more than 4 months of hard fought action on the college hardwood, commencing with one of the most thrilling and unpredictable NCAA Tournaments on record, it has all come down to this: Butler versus Connecticut for the 2011 NCAA National Championship.
Long gone are all the bromances for Jimmer, 280lb Ohio State centers singing to Miley Cyrus, and Kentucky’s Doran Lamb flashing those annoying 3 goggles. This one is for all the marbles and it features a modern day David vs. Goliath match-up of contrasting styles, players, and coaches.
UConn coach Jim Calhoun is no stranger to going deep in the NCAA Tournament as he has been to four Final Fours, winning the ’99 and ’04 National Championships. He has an unblemished 2-0 mark in NCAA Title Games, in addition to winning more than 800 college games, helping to earn him a spot in the Naismith Hall of Fame.
In contrast, Butler coach Brad Stevens, at only 34 years of age, is regarded as the very best young coaching mind in the game today, earning his 2nd straight NCAA Title Game appearance. If you remember, last year’s tilt ended rather anti-climactically as Gordon Hayward’s last chance heave came within inches of giving Cinderella her glass slipper and denying Duke another National Championship.
Both teams are led by a pair of dominating superstars, UConn with Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb and Butler with Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard, paired with tremendous supporting casts. Butler is led mostly by upperclassmen with experience while UConn has Kemba and a bevy of talented youngsters. Butler prefers to grind it out while Connecticut wants to run.
Here’s how they got there:
UConn(31-9)
Defeated Bucknell 81-52
Defeated Cincinnati 69-58
Defeated SD State 74-67
Defeated Arizona 65-63
Deafeated Kentucky 56-55
Butler(28-9)
Defeated Old Dominion 60-58
Defeated Pittsburg 71-70
Defeated Wisconsin 61-54
Defeated Florida 74-71
Defeated VCU 70-62
Both teams are riding double digit win streaks. Butler has won 14 straight, including sweeping the Horizon League Conference Tourney. UConn is riding a 10 game wave, including the now historic 5 wins in 5 days to take home the Big East crown.
When considering match-ups, several key players will factor in the final outcome. How will UConn’s Charles Akwandu and Tyler Olander defend Butler’s imposing big man Andew Smith? Will Butler’s Steven Van Zant and Shelvin Mack help stifle UConn’s freshman sensation Jeremy Lamb? Conversely can Lamb slow down the sharpshooting Mack? It should be a pleasure watching opposing bigs Matt Howard of Butler and Alex Oriachi of Connecticut fight for every rebound. But the one singular match-up that may decide the game is between Butler’s Michael Nored, known as the best pure perimeter defender in the country, against arguably the nation’s most potent offensive player Kemba Walker.
If you are a betting man, UConn is the early favorite with a 3.5 point edge. Who ya got?
Check out a video of ESPN’s College Gameday Crew previewing Monday’s Title Game:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
