It's finally here! Who will be National Champion?

Soooooo tonight is the Big Night - the field has been narrowed down to two. 3rd seeded UConn Huskies against the 8th seeded Butler Bulldogs. Butler was in this position last year and played a great game, only to lose on a last second shot to the Duke Blue Devils. UConn has also been waiting for this moment all year, after winning 5 games in 5 days in the Big East tournament and then fighting their way through their opponents in the Big Dance to get to this point. The Huskies haven't lost a tournament game yet this season, having won the Maui Invitational to start the season. If the Huskies are victorious this evening, Coach Jim Calhoun will join an elite group of coaches to win three National Championships: this amazing group includes legendary coaches like John Wooden of UCLA and Coach K of Duke.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet: This game is being slated as 'Good vs. Evil': the young talented Butler team being lead by their baby faced Coach, 34 year old Brad Stephens, defying all odds and nay-sayers to make it back to the National Championship for the second year in a row. This year, they won't be playing in their back yard in Indianapolis, they'll be playing in Houston. Huskies Coach Jim Calhoun has already been suspended for the the first three games of the Big East season next season for 'failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance' for having knowledge of a former player receiving money and gifts from a pro agent (according to ESPN.com). Kemba Walker, Shabazz Napier and Alex Oriakhi have been ploughing through their opponents like the Evil Empire. It's the big dog Big East Champion against the small market small conference team. But I think they are evenly matched and I expect a great game.

I personally love both teams; I love UConn's intensity and I adore Kemba Walker, and I love Butler's story, their play and how humble Coach Stephens has kept his team. I also love the Butler Bulldog - he's so cute! I cannot wait to watch this game, and hopefully, this year Butler will be able to bring the National Title home to Indy. Here's a great article written by Pat Forde on ESPN.com about how Butler's feel good story and how it's good for the tournament in light of the number of NCAA violations by teams this year.

I will end this post with a fun fact that I had forgotten about the entire tournament!! Pay attention when the analysts are talking tonight, and pay special attention to my good old boy, Digger Phelps. If you've been watching the tournament the whole time, think back - did you notice anything odd about Digger? He always matches the highlighter he holds in his hand during the broadcast to his tie :) Gotta love a guy who takes fashion so seriously and color coordination to the extreme :)

xoxo,

The Skinny