When I put a Butler masthead (photo from 2007) on top of this blog before the start of the tournament, it was intended as a generic basketball thing, not a Butler-specific reference. I never, ever could have imagined the Bulldogs would be back in the national title game (!!!). Likewise, when Dane told me his wacky prediction of Butler winning the title, I thought it was quaint, cute, silly — the notion that it might realistically happen never even crossed my mind. And yet here we are.
Dane, by the way, has a substantial lead in the pool, as you’d imagine. He’ll win in all scenarios except one: UConn winning the national title. In that case, Pat McGriff, a secretary at Iowa State, currently tied for 17th place, would vault up the leaderboard, jump past Lindberg, and win. (If Kentucky wins tonight, Lindberg clinches.)
UPDATE: UConn wins. Updated bracket:
This championship game is a little awkward for me. I grew up in Connecticut, a die-hard Husky fan. Up until the mid-2000s, I would still have been rooting for UConn in this game. But the combination of leaving the Nutmeg State for good and the Brendan Loy Reverse Bandwagon Effect have caused my affinity for UConn to become something akin to my casual interest in cheering for my parents’ colleges, Illinois and Georgetown. I’ll root for the Huskies if there’s no compelling reason not to. But on Monday, there is absolutley a compelling reason. Sorry, Connecticut friends. I’ll be rooting like hell for the Bulldogs. GO BUTLER!!! GO MID-MAJORS!!!
So did I to a certain extent. Though I did think they had a shot at going pretty far. But I went with an almost all favorite bracket for the rest of it in hopes I wouldn’t get too beat up for taking a pick based totally on emotion.