Final Four Field Set for Houston, A New American Futbol Star

Houston, you have a Final Four Field.

The Butler Bulldogs are back.  America's favorite Cinderella program seemingly did the impossible winning their 4 games by a combined 13 points.  Their defense remains the tournaments best and they make just enough shots to win the games.

How they got here: Butler defeated #9Old Dominion 60-58 on a Matt Howard buzzer beater, #1 Pittsburgh 71-70 on Matt Howard FT's at the buzzer, #4 Wisconsin 61-54 in a game the Bulldogs dominated, and finally Butler closed on a 20-9 run in regulation to force overtime where Shelvin Mack hit a crucial 3 to give Butler a 74-71 win over #2 Florida.




Chance to win it all:  The Bulldogs are in the midst of an NCAA long 14 game winning streak.  They have more championship experience than anyone else remaining.  Their coach Brad Stevens seems to always push the right buttons.  They won't be intimidated by being the underdog.  The Bulldogs are 11-1 against the spread in their last 12 tourney games.  In 11 of those games they have been the underdog.  Other teams will underestimate Butler at their own peril

How they got to Houston:  UConn followed up an amazing 5 game run through the Big East championship with 4 wins in a very difficult west regional.  UConn defeated #14 Bucknell 81-53, #6 Cincinnati 69-58, #2 San Diego State 74-67, and #5 Arizona 65-63.

Chance to Win it all:  The Huskies have the best player remaining in the tournament in Kemba Walker.  They also might have more motivation to win as rumors swirl that their head coach Jim Calhoun might announce his retirement after the tournament.

Virginia Commonwealth shocked the college basketball world smoking the Kansas Jayhawks 71-61.  I think it is still fair to question whether VCU had earned the right to play in the NCAA tourney, but in the tourney itself, no one has been more impressive.  The Rams beat 4 of their opponents by double digits and made the Jayhawks look silly on the offensive end.



How they got to Houston: VCU had to win a "play-in" game, smoking USC 59-46, Georgetown 74-56, Purdue 94-76, FSU 71-70 in OT, and Kansas 71-61.

Chance to win: The Rams are playing better than anyone left in the field. They have shot an insane 44% from 3pt land. They lack Butler's big-close game experience, but I don't think they will be intimidated by the venue.

The Kentucky Wildcats to me are a surprise to make it to Houston. They are not as talented as the Wildcats team that lost in the Elite 8 last year, but they probably played their 2 best games of the season this week. The played the perfect game defensively to beat Ohio State and their young PG Brandon Knight was unstoppable against North Carolina.


I bet you can't tell that this guy watching the game is from Kentucky.

How they got to Houston: Kentucky got by Princeton 59-57, West Virginia 71-63, Ohio State 62-60, and UNC 76-69.

Chance to win it all: Vegas might make the Wildcats the favorite and they are playing fantastic ball. If they get buy UConn they will be a heavy favorite in the championship game.




Team USA played Argentina (arguably playing the best soccer in the world right now) in a "Friendly" Saturday night at Giants Stadium.  The great Lionel Messi could not manage a goal, but 18 year old Juan Agedelo continued his meteoric rise to US stardom with an incredible goal.  Agedelo has 2 appearenced for the USMNT and a goal in each appearence.