NCAA Championship Game Preview

The NCAA Championship game is tonight. Opening Day festivities are going down right now for the Reds. Life is good. What's also going to be really good, is the live blog that's happening on this site for the Butler-Duke game. That's right, a live blog. This is a great story for Butler, and let's face it, it's fun to root against Duke. Before we get to the live blogging, let's preview the game. Of course you knew that, because you read the headline. I'm excited, you should be excited, the world is excited. Let's do this.

Butler Bulldogs 33-4
Notable Ken Pom Stats: Offense: 110 (50) Off FTA/FGA: 47.5 (14) 73.8 FT% (32). Defense: 86.4 (6) Opp Offensive Rb %: 27.6 (14)

Minutes

1. Gordon Hayward 33.3
2. Willie Veasley 31.2
3. Shelvin Mack 30.9
4. Ronald Nored 30.1
5. Matt Howard 25.4

Points

1. Gordon Haywar 15.6
2. Shelvin Mack 14.2
3. Matt Howard 11.6
4. Willie Veasley 10
5. Ronald Nored 6

Rebounds

1. Gordon Hayward 8.3
2. Matt Howard 5.2
3. Willie Veasley 4.3
4. Shelvin Mack 3.7
5. Ronald Nored 2.9

Assists

• Ronald Nored 3.6
• Shelvin Mack 3.1

Steals

• Ronald Nored 1.8
• Shelvin Mack 1.4
• Willie Veasley 1.2

Duke Blue Devils 34-5
Notable Ken Pom Stats: Offense 123.8 (1) Off Reb % 40.4 (6) 3%: 38.7 (21) FT%: 76.1 (7) Defense: 85.8 (3) Effective FG%: 43.7 (7) 3%: 28.1 (1)

Minutes

1. Jon Scheyer 36.7
2. Kyle Singler 35.8
3. Nolan Smith 35.4
4. Lance Thomas 25.1
5. Brian Zoubek 18.3

Points

1. Jon Scheyer 18.3
2. Kyle Singler 17.6
3. Nolan Smith 17.5
4. Brian Zoubek 5.5
5. Miles Plumlee 5.3

Rebounds

1. Brian Zoubek 7.7
2. Kyle Singler 6.9
3. Miles Plumlee 5
4. Lance Thomas 4.9
5. Jon Scheyer 3.5

Assists

• Jon Scheyer 4.8
• Nolan Smith 3
• Kyle Singler 2.4

Steals

• Jon Scheyer 1.6
• Nolan Smith 1.2

Prediction: Butler is going to have to keep Duke off the glass. Zoubek has been a rebounding machine so far in the tournament. He was big in hurting WVU in the Final Four, and Butler's front line is going to have their hands full. It's also going to be a race to see who gets in foul trouble first, him or Matt Howard. Both squads have a handful of players that get things done. It's going to be really interesting to see what team can shut down the other. Both teams are great defensively. Duke is great offensively. Ken Pom's projector has it 66-59 Duke with a 81% chance of winning. I am thinking something similar, but I can't pick Duke.

Butler 63 Duke 62

Final Four Preview

There was going to be more than this than just a quick Final Four preview, but Blogger was being retarded earlier and it's 4 right now and I want to get this up before 5. That was a run on sentence yes, but time is of the essence. It took me 3 tries to spell essence, which really slowed things down. As does rambling on and on about things that you, the reader, probably do not care about. Before we get into the Final Four preview, I'm going to share something. That something is a spoiler about Survivor, so if you haven't watched it, stop reading.

On last night's episode, Boston Rob was voted off. As he was getting up, Coach tried to give him a hug, but Rob was having none of it, and called him "A little man." Now that was hilarious, but the more hilarious part was the hug block that Rob pulled. Coach got up and went for the hug, but Rob ignored it and started walking out. It was glorious. Now I have never been hug blocked before, but I'm going to assume that it makes you feel like shit. To have it done on national tv, that's just glorious. I watched that part about 5 times. That brings us to the Bearcats blog tip of the day, if you piss someone off and lose their respect, don't try to hug them desperately after. It's unbecoming.

Final Four Preview
6:07 PM
Butler Bulldogs v. Michigan State Spartans

5 Butler Bulldogs 30-6

How they got here: Horizon League Tournament Champions 

Round 1- 77-59 over UTEP

Round 2- 54-52 over Murray State

Round 3-  63-59 over Syracuse

Round 4- 63-56 over Kansas State

Best Players: Gordon Hayward 15.5-8.2 Shelvin Mack 14.2-3.8-3.1 assists-1.4 steals

Ken Pom Off/Def Rank: 46/6

5 Michigan State Spartans 28-8

How they got here: At large (Big 10 3 way tie Co-Champions)

Round 1- 70-67 over New Mexico State

Round 2- 85-83 over Maryland

Round 3- 59-52 over Northern Iowa

Round 4- 70-69 over Tennessee

Best Players:  Raymar Morgan 11.5-6.2 Durrell Summers 11.2-4.6 

Ken Pom Off/Def Rank: 25/33

Prediction: Ken Pom has Butler by 2, winning 58% of the time. I agree. I'm fully on the Butler Bulldogs bandwagon. There is still room if you want to join. I'm pretty sure that it will now be cursed, and they will lose by 29 to Michigan State. 

Butler 64 Michigan State 59

8:47 PM

West Virginia Mountaineers v. Duke Blue Devils

2 West Virginia Mountaineers 31-6

How they got here: Big East Tournament Champions

Round 1- 77-50 over Morgan State

Round 2- 68-59 over Missouri 

Round 3- 69-56 over Washington

Round 4- 73-66 over Kentucky

Best Players: Da'Sean Butler 17.4-6.3-3.2 assists Kevin Jones 13.7-7.2

Ken Pom Off/Def Rank: 12/10

1 Duke Blue Devils 31-5

How they got here: Won ACC Tournament

Round 1- 73-44 over Arkansas Pine Bluff

Round 2- 68-53 over California

Round 3- 70-57 over Purdue

Round 4- 78-71 over Baylor

Best Players: Jon Scheyer 18.2-4.8 assists Kyle Singler 17.6-6.9

Ken Pom Off/Def Rank: 1/3

Prediction: Ken Pom has Duke by 5, with a 70% chance of winning. I don't think that it's going to be that clear cut. I like this West Virginia team, and think they can hang. They need to score though. Duke is excellent defensively, and they are efficient offensively. I think this is going to be a knockdown, drag out affair. 

Prediction: Duke 72 West Virginia 65

Why We Should Root Against West Virginia

We looked at why we should root for West Virginia yesterday, now it's time to flip that coin. We are going to go through all the reasons why we should root against West Virginia in the Final Four and beyond. Let's not waste any more time, and get into the action. 

• Bob Huggins

Let's look at the Bob Huggins Tournament resume at UC. Why? Because Bob Huggins has done something at West Virginia he never did at Cincinnati, beat good teams in the Tournament.

1. It started off not so bad, with a loss to the Fab 5 in the Final Four (although they were a 6 seed). 
2. North Carolina (eventual champions) in the Elite 8, in an overtime game.
3. The Wisconsin loss doesn't count since that team sucked in hindsight. 
4. UConn was good as well, and a 2 seed. Then the questionable losses start. 
5. Elite 8 loss to 5 seed Mississippi State as a 2. 
6. 2nd round loss to 6 Iowa State as a 3. 
7. 2nd round loss to 10 West Virginia as a 2. That team nearly lost to 15 Northern Arizona as well. 
8. 2nd round loss to 6 Temple as a 3. Temple seemed to always beat Cincinnati. 
9. 2nd round loss to 7 Tulsa as a 2 seed. They should have been a 1, but they would have lost to the 8 or 9. That team was done when Kenyon Martin went down. 
10. Sweet 16 loss to 1 Stanford as a 5 is good. That team was lucky to make the Sweet 16, but it made it. 
11. 2nd round loss to 8 UCLA as a 1 seed. That loss still hurts. 
12. 1st round loss to 9 Gonzaga. UC played like shit, and got hosed by the officials. 
13. 2nd round loss to 5 Illinois as a 4. Just like the year UC lost to West Virginia, they were lucky to make the second round. Unlike that year, UC got the doors blown off in an embarrassing effort. 
14. 2nd round loss to 2 Kentucky as a 7. Not so bad. 

At West Virginia, Huggins beat a 2 seed his first year (Duke), and after a first round flame out last year, they beat 1 seed Kentucky to advance to the Final Four. How many 1s or 2s did Hugs beat at UC? Fucking 0. Thanks for using your failure to win here as your keys to win there.

1. Watching Bob Huggins coach West Virginia is weird. I think it was Mo Egger who wrote it was like watching your ex-wife get married, while your current wife sucks. In bad ways. That makes sense.
2. Bob Huggins is partially responsible for the decline. He didn't do anything recruiting wise for the Kennedy year. They had Downey, but besides that, nothing big. 
3. Sweatsuits on the sidelines? What are you? Coaching 10 year olds? You are a fucking millionaire college coach who could probably get anyone to send you a different suit for each game each year, yet he wears free Nike sweatsuits like a bum. Way to look like a slob. 
4. Bob Huggins would probably still be the UC coach if he called a cab or hitched a ride. If he acted responsibly instead of an asshole, things would be very different. 
5. Bob Huggins probably should have resigned. Just throwing that out there.

• They are from the Big East

I never understood the blind conference pride. We root against West Virginia and Louisville and Syracuse and Georgetown all season long, and now we are supposed to jump on the bandwagon? Um, no. I wasn't disappointed when Syracuse lost to Butler, or when Georgetown lost to Ohio. I was pretty happy. I didn't root for Villanova or UConn last year, so why would I root for West Virginia?

• Da'Sean Butler

A couple things about Butler. 1, he is not the best player Bob Huggins ever coached. I hate when people say things like that, and of course, Bob Huggins went ahead and said that. Is he better than Kenyon? No. Better than Logan? Maybe. Better than Fortson? No. It's annoying. 2 is this.

• West Virginia has a player named Flowers.

It makes me think of Rod Flowers every single time. I was not a Rod Flowers fan at all, and I find this incredibly annoying.

• I'm already getting mad about the fact they are going to lose to Duke.

Seriously, fuck Duke.

• West Virginia sucks. 

Why We Should Root for West Virginia

By 'Why We Should Root for West Virginia', we obviously mean why we should root for Bob Huggins. It's a complicated issue. So complicated, that tomorrow there will be a 'Why We Shouldn't Root for West Virginia' entry. That's right, we are breaking this thing down from all angles. Put on your scuba gear, because we are getting deep.

We should root for West Virginia for the following reasons:

• Bob Huggins

That was stated up at the top yes, but it's worth pointing out and going in depth about. In fact, I'm breaking out the numbers, creating chaos.

1.  Bob Huggins was the greatest coach in Cincinnati modern history. He brought us titles in the Great Midwest and Conference USA. He raised Cincinnati's profile so, that UC was offered a spot in the Big East. That's been a huge boon for the football team. More importantly, he made the C stand for something. 
2. He took us to the NCAA Tournament from 1992-2004. He took us to the Final Four. He took us to 2 other Elite 8s as we all know. Him taking West Virginia to the title would almost be cathartic. It would be like Cincinnati winning the National Title. 
3. He's one of our guys, and don't you always have to pull for our guys to win?
4. He brought in All Americans like Danny Fortson, Kenyon Martin, and Steve Logan, and has built up a roster like some old UC teams. They play just like late 90s UC did, and it brings back some memories. If only he broke out the 1-3-1 to beat UK more at UC. 
5. Lastly, he wears a track suit. I mean, how ridiculous is this? How can you hate on the man, when he doesn't care about how he looks? How can you not laugh when he's dressed like a gym teacher? 

• They are from the Big East.

Conference pride. We can't let the ACC, Big 10, or the Horizon league win the title. It has to come back to the Big East. The Big East is the best conference in basketball. The Big East struggled a whole lot in the Tournament. What better way to shut up the morons who say the Big East was overrated, than a Big East team winning the title?

• Da'Sean Butler

Da'Sean Butler  has become one of my favorite players to watch. He may not have NBA skills, but he is a damn fine college player. He was huge in slaying the dragon known as Kentucky, and that alone should have earned him a space in your heart. He was called by Bob Huggins 'the best player he ever coached.' High praise.

• They live in West Virginia

Really, that's where they live. What the hell is there to do in West Virginia? Wear coonskin caps? Kiss your cousin? Hike the mountains? Make some moonshine in your bathtub? Are some of these things about Kentucky as well? Yes, but there is no difference between them. Especially everywhere in Kentucky east of Lexington. And south of Lexington. Actually, all of Kentucky that's not Lexington or Louisville. Anyway, they burn couches in West Virginia. Burning couches is pretty cool.

• They are playing Duke

Fuck Duke.

What's On Tap

The offseason is now in full swing. Things will start to get slow, but I'll try to keep things fresh around these parts. Wednesday, and Thursday are going to see a 'Why We Should Root for West Virginia' and 'Why We Shouldn't Root for West Virginia' posts. Friday will be a Final Four preview. Sunday will probably see a recap of Final Four action. Monday night, there will be a live blog of the NCAA Championship game. Even if it's Duke-Michigan State. 

There are going to be some new features. One will be a recap of the meaningful games of the season. Another will be a review of the players. One will be forgotten Bearcats. That will continue weekly until the start of the football season. There will be looks at the Bearcats spring sports weekly. And finally, a random post of the week. It could be a YouTube, a rant, a list, it'll be random. I'll try to get some interviews, but probably not. The plan is to keep things going until football season starts. We'll do our best. 

Josh Schneider: Record breaker

Normally at the Bearcats Blog, we talk about basketball and football. Mainly, that's because college baseball annoys us, and because no one ever sends volleyball results. But someone has come along, and swam into the hearts of every Bearcat. That man, is Josh Schneider. We talked about Josh's exploits in an earlier post, but he's gone out and done something even more incredible. Josh became an NCAA Champion.

The event: 50 freestyle. The time: 18:93. That's a school record, and a pool record. He became the first Bearcat swimmer to win an individual swimming championship since 1946, and only the second swimmer in Cincinnati history. He received a congratulatory call by the man who won in 1946, Charles Keating. Per Go Bearcats, Josh said this about his big day.

"The key to the race was not thinking about it," Schneider said. "I just let it rock out. I was third at the turn and I said to myself I wasn't going to lose the race. It was so loud in here, I had no idea I won. I looked up at the board and saw a 1 by my name and couldn't believe it."

 That's what we should all aspire to, letting it rock out. Josh wasn't done shattering records and making the ladies swimsuits drop. The next day, he would go on to set another UC record in the 100 yard butterfly. Who's record did he break? His own from earlier in the day. He swam a 46.36 and a 46.21. Was that good enough to win the Consolation Finals? Fuck yeah it was. This is Josh Schneider we are talking about.

On Sunday, Josh was seeded 11th for the 100 freestyle, with a time of 43.00. That's a school record, personal record and Big East meet record for those of you who don't follow the pool. What did he go out and do? He finished 6th. He put up a time of 42.68. He went above and beyond. For his efforts, he was named an All-American in the 100 free. That's the second time that he's done that. He broke 7, that's right 7, school records at the event. He broke all of his personal bests at the event. He broke them all again at the event.

Putting a capper on things, not only did Josh Schneider set personal records, not only did he shatter UC records, not only did he win a consolation finals, not only was he named an All-American, he became a National Champion and the greatest swimmer in Cincinnati history. The greatest. When you think of swimming at the University of Cincinnati, which you should from now on, push Charles Keating's old ass to the side. Because Josh Schneider is the king of the pool. Congratulations Josh.

South and Midwest Regional Finals Preview

First things first, congratulations to Butler and West Virginia. Bob Huggins reached his second Final Four, his first since 1992, and WVU's first since 1959. Butler reached their first Final Four ever, and they get to play in Indianapolis. I don't know how you couldn't be rooting for Butler. I was incredibly happy for them. I was also incredibly happy that Kentucky lost. Maybe if you weren't dicks Kentucky fans, people would like you. Let's recap and predict.

West
5 Butler Bulldogs 63 2 Kansas State Wildcats 56 - Butler pulled off nearly the same game they did against Syrcause. They got off to a good start, had a solid halftime lead, and fell behind late. Kansas State rallied for the lead, but the Bulldogs would not quit. A Gordon Hayward lay up with a minute left sealed the deal. Kansas St was locked down by the tough nosed defense, held to 38% shooting, just 5 threes, and 7-14 at the free throw line. Gordon Hayward put up 22-9 for the winners, while Denis Clemente had 18 for the Wildcats.

East
2 West Virginia Mountaineers 73 1 Kentucky Wildcats 66 - West Virginia made 8 threes for their only field goals of the first half. When they made twos, they put Kentucky away. The Mountaineer defense held Kentucky to only 34% shooting, 4-32 from 3. Kentucky was also 16-29 at the free throw line. West Virginia hit 23-34 at the stripe, and that helped them advance. Da'Sean Butler led the way with 18-6, while in his last game at UK, John Wall had 19-6-5 assists-4 steals-5 turnovers. Once again, congrats to WVU. Represent the Big East well.

Predictions

2:20 PM
6 Tennessee Volunteers v. 5 Michigan State Spartans - Tennessee has played tough, slow down games in 2 of their 3 wins. Michigan State has played the same. Both had second round offensive explosions, MSU over Maryland, and Tennessee over Ohio. I fully expect another slow down game here. It's going to be a toss up. Michigan State didn't seem to miss Kailin Lucas too much against Northern Iowa, but I think this is the game that does it. I like how Tennessee is playing, even though they could have very well lost to San Diego State.

Prediction: Ken Pom likes Sparty by 1, winning 52% of the time. It's a toss up. I like the Orange to crash the Final Four.
Tennessee 65 Michigan State 61

5:05 PM
3 Baylor Bears v. 1 Duke Blue Devils - Baylor is coming off a great performance, and has the home crowd. That's good, but I think that they lose. Duke has locked everyone down so far in the tournament, and I think they'll take advantage of Baylor's good, but not great defense. I hope LaceDarius Dunn has a big game. Yes, I wanted to type LaceDarius. I hope Baylor fights the good fight and wins, but I think Duke will be the only 1 seed to advance.

Prediction: Ken Pom likes Duke by 6, winning 72% of the time. Sounds about right.
Duke 73 Baylor 69