LeBron or LeHype?

There's no question that LeBron is the most talented player in the NBA, and maybe of all-time for that matter. However, that doesn't always mean that he has what it takes to take this Cavaliers team to an NBA title.

One thing is definitely for certain. This team has little chance at defeating the Celtics in their 2nd-round series if LeBron James can't figure out this puzzling elbow injury that has just surfaced.

Just seconds before closing out the Bulls last night, LeBron grimaced in pain forcing him to shoot a free-throw left-handed causing it to clank off the rim.

LeBron did his best to pull Cavs fans out of panic mode by insisting that it's nothing serious and that he'll be fine.

That elbow may be fine enough for him to play, but will he be 100 percent going forward? He's got till Saturday to figure out what's up with it.

Even with LeBron healthy I'm not sure this team has what it takes to defeat the Lakers in the NBA Finals or the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals.

If the Cavaliers fall up short yet again then Cleveland can say bye bye to LeBron. The truth is LeBron is sick of being a star player without any rings. It's a huge blow to his ego to not have a ring by now.

I'm still not sold on his supporting cast when it comes to this upcoming series with the Celtics and the remaining two series after that. The recent play of Antawn Jamison does give this team a fighting chance to get to the NBA Finals.

Either way I would not be surprised if the Celtics take the Cavaliers to seven games and the Magic sends them home packing again.

Even a player as talented as LeBron can't live up to the enormous amounts of hype that is continuously put on his shoulders. The funny part is he brings most of it on himself with his "look at me" persona. That's why if his team comes up short again I'll do nothing but laugh.

It's different when a player like Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, or Chris Paul comes up short. They play the game in a respectful manner that makes me cheer for them over a player like LeBron, even if LeBron may be more talented.

Looks can only get you so far in this world, and so can talent to a degree.

Titans Draft Recap

Historically Jeff Fisher and company have always been good during draft time. This year looks to be no different, but we won't know that for sure until a few years later.

Nonetheless, the Titans entered the draft with needs at the defensive line and in the secondary as they finished 28th in total defense last season.

The addressed those needs with the picks of defensive end Derrick Morgan of Georgia Tech and outside linebacker Rennie Curran of Georgia being the most notable picks.

The Titans actually picked defensive players for six of their nine picks.

What may end up being a huge steal in this draft for the Titans will be the sixth round pickup of Myron Rolle from Florida State. This guy dropped due to questions of his commitment but his skill level is very appealing. It's a great bargain pick if you ask me.

It was very smart of the Titans to address the defensive line with their first pick and Morgan was widely considered the best all-around player at his position in the draft.

Like almost every other draft, the wide receiver position was also a need. The Titans addressed that in the later round with the picks of Damian Williams out of Southern Cal and Marc Mariani from Montana.

Williams is a great route runner, but Mariani is probably a lot more unknown for most. He's known for his gritty style of play and will also compete for being a kick returner.

Another intriguing pick was the selection of quarterback Rusty Smith from Florida Atlantic. This guy has a great skill set, but he played in the Sun Belt so he didn't exactly get the best competition week in and week out.

However, the Titans needed a quarterback and Smith could definitely end up being a steal one day in this league. There have been plenty of quarterback in NFL history who got picked in the later rounds and ended up being great. Tom Brady is a perfect example.

Overall it looks like the Titans addressed all of the positions in need. Only time will tell if these draft picks will work out in the Titans favor.

Titans Draft Picks

1 (16) Derrick Morgan,DE-Georgia Tech
3 (77) Damian Williams,WR-Southern Cal
3 (97) Rennie Curran, OLB- Georgia
4 (104) Alterraun Verner, CB- UCLA
5 (148) Robert Johnson, S- Utah
6 (176) Rusty Smith, QB- Florida Atlantic
6 (207) Myron Rolle, S- Florida State
7 (222) Marc Mariani, WR- Montana
7 (241) David Howard, DT- Brown

Tebow Picked Before McCoy, Clausen

Everyone knew that Tim Tebow would get his NFL opportunity no later than the 2nd round of the NFL Draft, but few thought that he would go before both Colt McCoy and Jimmy Clausen.

The Broncos took Tebow with their 25th pick yesterday.

This pick came out of left field considering that the Broncos already have Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn on the roster at quarterback.

Most likely the Broncos are going to use Tebow in certain offensive packages that could include running the option. It's going to give opposing defensive coordinators another factor to plan for.

What may be even more surprising is the fact that the Broncos passed up on McCoy and Clausen. Both of these guys will most likely get snatched up in the 2nd round later today.

Now that Tebow has officialy been granted his chance at the NFL it'll be interesting to see if he can eventually silence his many critics.

Best Available

1. Colt McCoy (Texas)
2. Taylor Mays (Southern Cal)
3. Terrence Cody (Alabama)
4. Brandon Spikes (Florida)
5. Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame)
   

Jets Add Another Valuable Piece To The Puzzle

You can always expect plenty of huge deals to happen right before the draft each year, and this year has been no different.

The Jets have contributed to a lot of that as they just reportedly signed Jason Taylor to a deal that will make that defense even scarier than it already was.

This pick solidifies them as the Super Bowl favorite out of the AFC. The AFC is no longer dominated by just the Patriots or the Colts anymore. The Jets want in on the action as well.

Even without Santonio Holmes and Jason Taylor last season they still came up just short of going to the Super Bowl.

They're definitely putting all their chips on next season. Most likely this deal with Jason Taylor will be of the one year variety. The Jets want a Super Bowl now and they're done being patient.

The Jets also signed Ladanian Tomlinson earlier in the offseason. There are question about whether Tomlinson is way past his prime, but worst case scenario he acts as a great mentor for Shonn Green and Leon Washington.

This team now has a certain swagger to them that puts them ahead of every other team in the AFC at this point. They've got it all going in the right direction.

They've got an excellent coach that the players respect in Rex Ryan, Mark Sanchez is going to get better most likely, the defense is still one of the best, and now they've got a great group of receivers that includes Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes, and Jerricho Cothcery.

The AFC East as a whole has been somewhat busy with the Dolphins acquiring Brandon Marshall and the Patriots just recently adding Torry Holt to their roster.

Hands down, the AFC East will be the best division in the NFL and the Jets will be the top dog of that division.

Jets Offseason Acquisitions

• Santonio Holmes (from Steelers)
• Ladanian Tomlinson (from Chargers)
• Jason Taylor (from Dolphins)
• Nick Folk (from Cowboys)

Tiger Woods Owes Roethlisberger A Hardy Handshake

For a good two or three months Tiger Woods and his extra curricular activities dominated the air waves. Even CNN couldn't get enough of Tiger.

It's crazy how fast things can change. Now it's Ben Roethlisberger that is being discussed every time you turn on a sports channel.

Roethlisberger brought this all on himself by doing what usually leads to trouble for every professional athlete. He was hanging around a bar somewhere in Georgia, having drinks, and flirting with girls he has no business flirting with.

I hate to use a cliche but it works so well for this situation. You play with fire and you're going to get burnt.

This whole situation with Roethlisberger has made us virtually forget all about Tiger Woods and his affairs which are far from over.

It has to feel a lot better for Tiger knowing that he's not the focal point of every sportscast right now.

Nothing really surprises me anymore when it comes to athletes getting into these kinds of messes.

For some reason it is so difficult for these professional athletes, and celebrities in general, to stay out of trouble.

Roethlisberger may be completely innocent of the charges that were brough against him, but he still should have never been in that situation. He knows the NFL's conduct policy and he obvioulsy failed to follow it.

In the end Tiger Woods will bounce back way faster than Roethlisberger will. Roethlisberger has the weight of an entire organization bearing down on him to make things right again.

Tiger is going through much of the same thing, but at least he plays for himself on the golf course and doesn't have teammates to answer to. We also already know that Tiger is still one of the best golfers in the world despite everything that happened. He proved that by finishing fourth at the Masters.

On the other hand Roethilisberger will continue to be grilled by the media all the way up until the start of next season, and somewhere in a quiet room Tiger Woods has a modest grin because of it.

Four Reasons Today Was Craziest Sports Day I Can Remember

What a day in the world of sports! It started off so ordinary, but today was anything but that. Here's four reasons why:

1. Mets and Cardinals Go 20 Innings:

It's not often you see more than 10 innings of baseball, but the fans in St. Louis got their money's worth Saturday night. Technically they saw over two full games of baseball played. The Mets ended up winning 2-1, but sadly they'll only get credit for one win in the standings. If I was a player on either one of those teams I would be expecting a bonus.

2. Ubaldo Jimenez Throws No-Hitter For Rockies

A no-hitter is significant in itself, but the fact that Jimenez looked average for the first four innings makes this even more amazing. He had five walks to start the game but still managed the first no-hitter in Rockies history. To put the icing on the cake, his last pitch clocked at 97 miles per hour.

3. One-Seeded Capitals Come From Three Goals Down To Tie Series With Habs

Hard to believe that this is only third on the list of most impressive sports stories of the day. It still deserves a lot of attention. The Capitals were in danger of going down 2-0 to an eight-seeded Canadiens team that was given no chance to the President's Trophy winner. Despite trailing 4-1 with less than two minutes remaining in the 2nd period, the Capitals raillied to win 6-5 in overtime. They scored the winning goal just 31 seconds into overtime. Now that's playoff hockey!

You want to hear parity? Currently every series in the NHL playoffs is knotted at one game a piece except for the Predators-Blackhawks series which has yet to play the 2nd game of the series.

4. Dan Henderson Loses Strikeforce Debut, Brawl Breaks Out Afterwards

This could end up being costly for the sport of MMA. To catch everyone up, Strikeforce is basically the little brother of the UFC. It's featured on CBS instead of Pay-per-view and virtually the entire country has access to their events. Tonight was particularly special because MMA superstar Dan Henderson was featured in the main event. He lost in an unanimous decision to Jake Shields. Unfortunately the main storyline from this fight didn't occur during the scheduled fight time. The camptain of Shields and another fighter got into a physical confrontation in the middle of the ring shortly after the fight. This all occurred on national television and shines another negative light on the sport of MMA which is slowly trying to move into the national spotlight.




Honorable mention:

• Alex Rodriguez (584 home runs) moves into 8th all-time in home runs.
• Rookie Brandon Jennings (34 points) comes just two points short of tying Derrick Rose and Kareem Abdul-Jabarr for the most points scored by rookie in playoff game.

Let The Feuding Begin Between Lakers and Thunder

Usually it's a player that starts the fireworks prior to the start of a playoffs series, but this time coach Phil Jackson got the ball rolling.

Jackson made a bold statement saying that Kevin Durant gets special treatment from the refs which pads his scoring totals each game.

"Yeah, by the calls he gets, he really gets to the line a lot, I'll tell ya," Jackson said.

Durant is obviously not happy about the remarks and views them as disrespectful, and I can't blame him one bit for feeling that way. However, Durant has to use this as a positive influence to help propel the franchise to it's first series win since becoming the Thunder.

There is some truth to Jackson's comment. Durant led the league in free throw attempts and tied with LeBron James in free throw attempts per game at just over ten a game.

However, you can't blame Durant for that. If anything it should be viewed as a strength of Durant's because it means he's being aggressive. Is that not what every coach teaches? To drive to the basket and draw a foul if anything else.

It's a two way street and Jackson should take a look at his own star player who also gets some of that "superstar treatment" from the refs.

It's unfortunately part of the game. The NBA wants their stars to succeed and put up big numbers night in and night out. Like almost everything else in this world, it's a business that's driven by making the most money possible.

You can't come down on Jackson too hard because Kobe Bryant, arguably the NBA's best player, attempted almost 300 less free throws that Durant did. Once again though, you can't blame Durant for that.

The Thunder should not be taken lightly by the Lakers going into this series. They're a very talented team and playoff inexperience is the only thing that really could hold this team back from making a solid run in the playoffs.

I'm sure the NBA is happy to hear Jackson's comments because it will certainly impact the ratings in a positive way.

NBA Leaders In Free Throw Attempts

1. Kevin Durant- 840
2. Dwight Howard- 816
3. LeBron James- 773
4. Dwyane Wade- 702
5. Amare Stoudemire- 632
   

Once Again Titans Are Keeping Their Heads In The Sand

This happens every offseason. A ton of free agents show up on the market that could do the Titans a lot of good. However, the Titans always sit back and do next to nothing during the offseason.

Like almost the entire time the Titans have been in Nashville, their primary need is a dominant wide receiver. Not a slightly above average receiver that has maybe two great games a year, but one that consistently puts up strong numbers every week. A wide receiver that demands double teams.

The Titans currently don't have that now and really never have. However, they had that opportunity this offseason with a large number of wide receivers who were free agents.

What upsets me is that the Titans didn't even show the slightest bit of interest in star receivers like Brandon Marshall or Vincent Jackson. Instead they just sat back and acted like their content with Nate Washington being their number one wide receiver. It makes me sick every time I think about it.

Top Three Titans Receivers in 2009

1. Kenny Britt: 42 receptions, 701 yards, 3 TD
2. Nate Washington: 47 receptions, 569 yards, 6 TD
3. Chris Johnson (halfback): 50 receptions, 503 yards, 2 TD
   

It doesn't reflect well on your passing game when the running back leads the team in receptions and is third on the team in receiving yards. Chris Johnson did that last season.

In addition to that, it's also not great when a rookie leads the team in receiving yards among the rest of the wide receivers who have plenty of experience. It shows that this team is still very shallow at wide receiver.

I'm not really sure who's to blame here but Bud Adams is the first person that comes to mind. He's one of the richest owners in the NFL and we're heading into an uncapped year, which means Adams could've thrown some money around for one of these free agents.

Jeff Fisher is also somewhat to blame because he refuses to move with the times. He's just a stubborn coach who refuses to abandon his traditional ground and pound offense that is gradually becoming an unsuccessful gameplan in the NFL.

The Titans will continue to be a middle of the road team in the NFL until some aggressive moves start occurring in the offseason. Simple as that.

You should get use to finishing with eight or nine wins a season if you're the Titans front office, because that's all you're going to manage if this lack of aggression continues.

Predators Slide To Seventh Seed, Will Face Blackhawks

Finally the Predators will play someone other than the Red Wings or the Sharks in the first round of the playoffs. Instead they got division foe Chicago.

The Predators finished out the regular season on a winning note by beating the hapless Blues in a shootout to finish with a 100-point season for the third time in franchise history.

There was a huge log jam in the Western Conference standing with four teams (Red Wings, Canucks, Kings, and Preds) all being within three points of each other.

As I've said before, I believe the Predators have never been a better all around team going into the playoffs than they are right now. There's balance in all phases of the game right now.

On offense players like Patric Hornqvist (30 goals) and Martin Erat (21 goals) can change games with their scoring abilities.

On the defensive side of puck there's no denying the greatness of Canadien gold medalist Shea Weber.

Of course we can't forget the great play in net of Pekka Rinne. He's the x-factor of this playoff series for the Preds.

It's almost inevitable that the Preds will have their scoring droughts during this series and the key will be whether or not Rinne will be able to hold down the fort during those droughts.

Mickelson, Tiger Among Leaders At Masters

The game of golf can't be more happy to have Tiger Woods back. There hasn't been this much positive buzz surrounding the game since Woods last stepped on the golf course over six months ago.

Currently Woods sits just four shots back from the leader Lee Westwood with a score of 8-under par.

As for Phil Mickelson, he sits in a much more comfortable position after he had a remarkable third round to bring his overall score to 11-under par. He had back-to-back eagles on 13 and 14 to ignite the Augusta gallery.

Mickelson has been in this situation plenty of times before at Augusta. He's a virtual lock to always finish in the top ten, but he's choked his way out of a green jacket a few times before.

Both Woods and Mickelson have dealt with their own set of circumstances outside of golf, which makes it even more remarkable at how well they're playing right now.

To go back to Woods, everyone has been paying close to attention at how Woods handles his emotions during this tournament. He's been under a lot of scrutiny for the way he has presented himself in the past whenever he hits a bad shot.

There was a little bit of that today with the most memorable remark by Woods saying to himself, "Tiger Woods...you suck!". He is clearly locked in on wanting to win his fifth green jacket, and that makes him ever so dangerous going into the final round tomorrow.

The critics should back off and not make a big deal about the expletives he said under his breath today. He's only human and he's extremely passionate about the game.

I did have a problem with whenever he slammed his clubs down in disgust, but he hasn't really done that during the Masters. That's a good sign that he has worked on controlling his emotions and respecting the game of golf.


There are several other talented golfers who are in the mix going into the final round. The most notable of those are Ian Poulter, Fred Couples, and K.J. Choi.

Couples is a great story here, much like Tom Watson was at last year's British Open. Couples is also at 8-under and has a great chance at pulling off the unthinkable.

If Westwood continues to play as consistent as he has the first three rounds then it will be hard for anyone to overtake him for the lead.

It's going to definitely be another photo finish and golf has definitely returned back to the spotlight of the sports world, thanks mainly to Tiger Woods.

Masters Leaderboard After Three Rounds

1. Lee Westwood (-12)
2. Phil Mickelson (-11)
3. K.J. Choi (-8)
4. Tiger Woods (-8)
5. Fred Couples (-8)

Notables:

T-14. Tom Watson (-2)
T-16. Kenny Perry (-1)
T-22. Angel Cabrera (E)
T-31. Ernie Els (+3)
T-38. Sergio Garcia (+4)

Odds Are You Won't Recognize The 2010-11 Wildcats

Everyone expected John Wall and Demarcus Cousins to enter the NBA draft after last season.

Some speculated that Eric Bledsoe would join them, but that wasn't for sure.

Very few probably predicted that the block specialist Daniel Orton would join them.

Well they all ended up declaring for the NBA draft, including senior Patrick Patterson who definitely did his time as a Wildcat and did it well.

In all only five players will return next year for the Wildcats, leaving Calipari with a huge rebuilding project. However, Calipari does already have some great prospects lined up to make up yet another stellar recruiting class.

All of these players have about a month to change their minds and pull out of the draft, but that's highly unlikely.

This is the compromise you make as a coach when you recruit these top tier players. Calipari should be use to this by now. It happened to him at Memphis with Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans, and both of those players are flourishing in the NBA right now.

It really goes back to the recent rule that was passed down by the NBA that forces players to attend at least one year of college before being eligible for the NBA.

This just teaches bad work ethic and wastes the time of these college professors. It also makes somewhat of a mockery to the institution of higher learning.

You know John Wall could've cared less about what he was learning in the classroom or what kind of grades he was receiving. He was just thinking about how many points and assists he was going to dish out next game, and can you really blame him? It's not his fault that he was forced to attend college to chase his dream.

These guys are adults and deserve to make whatever decision that want to make to chase their dream. If that means skipping college to do that then so be it. And if you are going to force them to attend college then requiring just one year is pointless.

With all of that aside, it will be interesting to see how next year's Wildcats will look as compared to last year's richly talented team that came up just a few steps short.

They'll probably make another run next season, but youth will be something Calipari will be dealing with for the rest of his time at Kentucky until this stupid rule of "one and done" is uplifted.

Returning Wildcats

1. DeAndre Liggins: 3.8 ppg, 15 min/game
2. Darnell Dodson: 6 ppg, 14.5 min/game
3. Darius Miller: 6.5 ppg, 21.1 min/game
4. Jon Hood: 1.2 ppg, 4.4 min/game
5. Josh Harrellson: 1.3 ppg, 4 min/game
   

Maybe Pujols Really Is A Machine....

Albert Pujols, who is in my opinion the best all-around player in baseball right now, hasn't wasted any time getting his numbers up this season.

After just two games Pujols is already 5 for 8 with two home runs and four RBI's. He's still due for one more at-bat in tonight's game against the Reds so those numbers could easily go up.

Pujols is by far the most consistent hitter in all of baseball. There's no hitter I want stepping up to make a big hit more than Pujols. He's not just a home run hitter like Mark McGwire was. He just knows how to put the ball in the field of play and score runs.

Most importantly, he's done it cleanly as far as we know.

I like the Cardinals to easily win the NL Central this season and Pujols is the main reason why. However, this team has a very solid starting rotation as well.

The National League overall will be a very strong league this year. Oh yeah, and don't be surprised if Pujols wins another NL MVP and makes a run at baseball's first triple crown in over 30 years.

Butler Looks To Take Down Another Goliath

Once again Butler will have to prove mostly everyone wrong tonight as they take on Duke for the National Championship.

There's no secret to why Butler has made it this far in the tournament. They've done it with their defense, and they leaned on that defense more than ever to get by Michigan State on Saturday.

In case you didn't realize this, Butler shot 30 percent from the field. They didn't score a single point for over seven minutes of the second half. It didn't matter because their defense never let up.

The problem is that now you have a Duke team that is coming off their best offensive performance of the season. The big three ( Scheyer, Smith, and Singler) all scored 19 points or more against West Virginia.

Furthermore, Zoubek looked unstoppable on the boards down low. If Matt Howard can't go tonight, then Butler will have virtually no big man to contend with Zoubek down low. That spells disaster for Butler.

It seems almost unbelievable, but Butler has held all five of its tournament opponents under 60 points. I don't see that happening against Duke. They've got too many weapons.

Basically, Butler is going to have to put up a good amout of points itself to win this game. They also can't expect Gordon Hayward to do it all on his own like in the Michigan State game. Not to play devil's advocate here, but Butler was extremely lucky to beat Michigan State.

That kind of performance won't work against a much more potent Blue Devils team tonight. They're capable of pulling it off, but the offense has to start complimenting the defense to beat Duke and complete this great story.

Predators Dump The Red Wings, Clinch Playoff Berth

There's no game that was more suited for the Predators to clinch their fifth playoff berth in six seasons than against the Red Wings.

That happened earlier today as the Preds defeated the Red Wings 4-3 in overtime at Joe Louis Arena.

The Predators got everything they could handle from the division rivals, but players like Martin Erat and Shea Weber continued to battle in hostile territory.

So now the question is who will the Predators play in the first round. Thankfully it won't be the Red Wings for the third time, and it's very unlikely it'll be the Sharks.

Right now it looks to either be the Coyotes, who the Preds just defeated this past week, or the Canucks. Either way the Predators will have their hands full against a very good team.

Preds Against Current Top 4 seeds

1. vs. Chicago ( CHI leads 4-2)
2. vs. San Jose ( SJ leads 3-1)
3. vs. Vancouver ( Tied 2-2)
4. vs. Phoenix ( PHO leads 2-1)
   

Despite being without their captain Jason Arnott (concussion) for the last several games, the Predators have continued to battle and pick up crucial points in the standings to cling onto that fifth spot. Arnott should be back well in time for the playoffs.

The Predators won't have home-ice advantage, but frankly that shouldn't be a concern. Their record is just as good on the road as it is at home this season, which is crucial in the playoffs.

So much credit is owed to Barry Trotz who has been here from the start. He coached his 900th game for the Predators today which is among the most all-time in the NHL for one team. He also picked up his 410th victory for the Predators. Hopefully he'll be the Nashville coach for many more years to come.

This might be the best Predators team ever that is going into the playoffs. It's extremely important that the Predators don't relax for the last two games of the season because those four points that are still left on the table could end up being the difference between the fifth spot and the eighth spot.

Analyzing the Final Four

There's not a more simple way to put it. This year's NCAA Tournament went anything but according to plan.

Outside of Duke, each one of the Final Four teams had more critics than they did believers going into the NCAA Tournament.

Well that can all be thrown out of the window because each of one of these teams you can make a reasonable argument for winning it all. Let's look at each one:

1. (1) Duke: The Blue Devils were my national championship pick and they're the only team keeping my bracket above water. They play so well as a team and it has shown over the past few weeks. To me Nolan Smith deserves all the credit in the world for keeping Duke from becoming yet another upset victim. If they lose to West Virginia, it'll be anything but an upset loss. They've got all the right tools to do it, but Kyle Singler has to put up a better performance than he did against Baylor ( 5 points, 0/10 from the field) or Duke has little to no chance. I give them a slight edge over everyone else because they have so many weapons and if they all have a good team then there's not a defensive gameplan in the world that can shut this team down.

Interesting fact: Duke's first Final Four appearance since 2004

2. (2) West Virginia: Much like the Blue Devils, the Mountaineers also bailed me out on my bracket. I had this matchup in my bracket, but with the Mountaineers losing a close one. I very well could be wrong and West Virginia could easily win this game. They're just that good. That was proven against a Kentucky team that was blowing everyone out. The defense of West Virginia is what will give them a great chance against Duke. Duke's offense looked very shaky against Baylor, so we know West Virgnia's defense is capable of doing the same thing. That Mountaineer offense looked pretty solid against Kentucky as well. It should be one of the better games of the tournament.

Interesting fact: First Final Four appearance since 1959

3. (5) Butler: You can't really call a 5-seed a Cinderella team, but I'm certainly going to break that logic and say they are. Despite not having a loss since before Santa Clause came to town, very few people gave Butler a chance against Syracuse or Kansas State. They're shooting the ball extremely well right now and Michigan State will have their hands full if Butler shoots that way again. Remember, Butler will be playing just minutes away from their campus in Indianapolis. This could benefit them or hurt them. They'll either feed of that pressure or implode from it. Either way, this team deserves just as much respect as the other three Final Four teams. Here's a interesting fact for you: Butler has never sent a player to the NBA. That will change after this year with Gordon Hayward.

Interesting fact: Only 4,000 students attend Butler

4. (5) Michigan State: The Spartans have to be thanking the basketball gods for being in the Final Four. They've won their four tournament games by a combined 13 points. That's not to take away from how good this team is. First off, they've got the benefit of being coached by one of the best in the country in Tom Izzo. He'll bring a great gameplan for the Bulldogs. The question is will the Spartan players execute it effectively? Injured point guard Kalin Lucas sure would be helpful in this situation. Korie Lucious has to run the point better than he did against Tennessee. Five turnovers and only two of seven shooting probably won't cut it against a surging Butler team.

Interesting fact: Izzo has now taken MSU to six Final Fours in last 12 years



I'd be a coward to count Duke out now so I have them defeating Michigan State in the National Championship game. However, in no way will I be surprised if both Butler and West Virginia win their games and move on to battle it out.