A sports blog by and for Midwest Sports Fans
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The Chicago Blackhawks’ 2-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks was a tough loss for fans to swallow for many reasons. The ‘Hawks fell to eighth place in the Western Conference behind Anaheim and one point in front of Calgary.
Just like after the loss to Dallas back on March 17th, Anaheim now has the tie-breaker over the ‘Hawks, taking the season series after Saturday night’s win.
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If a normal picture is worth a thousand words, the picture below might just be worth sixty-eight thousand words.
There is no chance in hell this is what Brad Stevens was thinking when this picture was taken, but it certainly is what his Butler Bulldogs and their March dominance represent: suck it college basketball establishment.
Yep, tiny Butler from the disrespected Horizon League is headed back to the Final Four.
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The 8th-seeded Butler Bulldogs beat the 2nd-seeded Florida Gators on Saturday to win the Southeast Region and advance to their second straight Final Four.
In overtime, with less than a minute to go, a Butler male cheerleader saw the camera while transitioning from a timeout to the action…and he let his Bulldog pride go on full display for the entire nation.
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The first Elite 8 game is over, and it was a good one, resulting in the Butler Bulldogs going back to the 2011 Final Four in Houston!
Florida was up by one at halftime, after leading by 10 early on, but the Bulldogs battled back. In the 2nd half, the same thing happened. Florida built a double-digit lead, but Butler regained their footing and slowly but surely chipped away at it, finally tying the game at 57 with 2:30 minutes to play.
The game ultimately went into OT with the Bulldogs winning by three to reach their second straight Final Four. More analysis coming, but I need to take a few deep breaths first…
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Butler-Florida just tipped off and it’s 8-8 at the first break. I thought this would be a good time to get everyone prepped for what the kids from Butler, Florida, UCONN, Arizona, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, and VCU are playing for this weekend: the 2011 Final Four.
I am hoping to see four great games this weekend, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t pulling for Butler and Kansas to rep the Midwest. We’ll see. This is as wide-open an Elite 8 as I can remember. Other than for VCU, it’s not hard to make a case for any of the other remaining teams as being the favorite.
This post contains the basic info about this year’s Final 4, as well as links to several different tickets sites, along with discount codes that I did some homework to find for MSF readers.
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Update: Prediction posted.
Way back when, in the year 2000, Butler announced itself on the national scene by coming within one shot of sending 5th seeded Florida home early. Only a Mike Miller buzzer-beater kept the Gators alive.
Seven years later, in 2007, the superb back-to-back title winning Gators had to go through Butler on their way to a title. Florida beat those AJ Graves-led Bulldogs 65-57.
And now here are in 2011, with Butler and Florida meeting up again, this time with a Final Four spot on the line. Will the third time be a charm for the ‘Dawgs? Or will Florida continue its tournament stranglehold on Butler? Let’s discuss.
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Update: Prediction posted.
Not a lot of people had Arizona facing off against Connecticut in the Elite 8 – heck, I had UCONN losing in the first round! (yes, I’m an idiot) – but that’s the matchup we’ve got. And you know what? It’s a fascinating one.
Other than Butler, nobody in America is hotter than the Huskies. After scuffling to a 9-seed in the Big East Tournament, Connecticut decided to turn it on and hasn’t lost since. The biggest reason, of course, is Kemba Walker, who is unquestionably the best guard in America right now.
Arizona is not far removed from the Lute Olson rubble, but Sean Miller has proven himself to be one of the best young coaches in America. The ‘Cats are both talented and athletic – just ask Duke – and have perhaps the nation’s best overall player in Derrick Williams.
This will be a fast, physical, athletic game between two well-coached team led by terrific stars. So while it may not have been the one anyone predicted, it’s quite possible that this is the most entertaining Elite 8 matchup we could have gotten in the West Region. Let’s look at it a closer.
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Before tonight’s Sweet 16 game, players from Kansas and Richmond got into a little bit of an altercation in the tunnel before the game.
Nothing serious happened beyond some jawing, but it definitely carried over into the game. Despite Kansas running out to an early win, the game was chippy throughout.
Since it’s a slow early session of games, here is the video in case you didn’t see it:
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Examining fantasy relevance in the sophomore class. (Editor’s Note: Darryl Johnson contributed to this article)
Last year was one of the best fantasy years for rookies breaking into the big leagues, as every position had a valuable rookie. The question is, which of these sophomores will fall victim to the sophomore slump, and which will keep their production rolling? Check out this season’s sophomore Hits and Misses below. [Read more...]
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Yep, we’re doing it again. We’re live blogging tonight’s NCAA Tournament action – the second night of Sweet 16 games – with various members of the MSF writing crew as well as our friends from Rumors and Rants.
So once the games start, head on over here and join us for the most riveting, irreverent, humorous and occasionally insightful basketball commentary you will find anywhere. At least, that’s the plan.
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Wow. I don’t know if this is going to catch you as much by surprise as it did me, but…wow.
Not 10 minutes after I wrapped up my post on how the severe underrating of Derrick Williams as a prospect was a good reminder of how inexact a science recruiting can be, did I find the video below (h/t @thebiglead). It is a report by Bloomberg Sports that shows the annual recruiting budgets of Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Kentucky.
As the title says: mind = blown.
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It’s been a while since I’ve used the most cliched title gimmick in blogging. Ahh…feels good.
Before I begin this post, let me state something right off the bat: I’m not going to break any new ground here with my overall point. We all know that recruiting, in both basketball and football and everything else, is an inexact science at best.
The history of big time college sports – where boatloads of time, effort, and money are spent by universities and “gurus” to scout and recruit high school players – is littered with highly ranked players who have flopped and lowly ranked players who have flown to the top. It is what it is and it always will be.
If you’re looking for some kind of profound statement about recruiting, you’re not going to find it here. But, with the furor that my fanbase and I whipped ourselves up into yesterday with the commitment of Jeremy Hollowell (top 40 prospect!) to play his college basketball in Bloomington, I think a quick recruiting reality check is worthwhile.
So here goes: how in the samhell did everyone (but Arizona, obviously) miss on Derrick Williams – who was rated lower than, wait for it…wait for it…Bawa Muniru.
Cue: facepalm.
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Changed man, huh Tiger?
Your likeness on Golf Digest begs to differ.
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Obviously we only know one half of the Elite 8 right now, pending the results of Friday night’s games, but here is the TV and announcer schedule for those planning ahead:
Update: Friday night results are in!
