Butler hopes to be one shot better in Monday’s title game

The final game is set. No. 3 UConn and 8th-seeded Butler. One will be the only team to finish the season with a postseason win while the other goes home a loser.

Butler won their 14th consecutive game to earn a trip back to the NCAA Championship game, meeting the Huskies. It’s Dawg vs. Dog. Let’s just hope Mike Vick isn’t involved. I know, cheap shot.

Very few fans predicted this championship game matchup. According to ESPN research, only 881 out of the 5.9 million brackets picked the Butler-Connecticut national title game matchup. Just 4,325 brackets (0.07%) selected the Bulldogs to win it all. Ridiculous. I had zero teams in the Final Four.

The Bulldogs are in familiar territory reaching the title game last year. This is a huge benefit for Butler who knows what to expect with the atmosphere and media requests.

“We’ve just got to be one shot better than last year,” coach Brad Stevens said.

The critical matchup to watch will be the UConn inside game with Butler’s Matt Howard. If they can get Howard in foul trouble like they did Josh Harrellson, the Bulldogs will be in trouble.

Kemba Walker is a force to be reckoned with and he poses a big challenge. I’d expect Ronald Nored to be put on Walker to play face-up defense. He can get it done.

I can’t say enough about Brad Stevens and his cool, calm and collective attitude. There’s no question this team looks to him for answers as he leads by example. What he has done in his time at Butler is astounding. Get this – four years of heading coaching experience, two title game appearances. Those are nearly Hall of Fame numbers. Stevens and Butler are looking for their 15th straight win Monday night. He is the brightest young coach in the game today. To think, he dropped his high paying job at Eli Lilly to become a volunteer assistant at Butler.

Experts will continue to count the dogs out but not so fast. Butler is patient, poised and prepared. Butler was ranked in the preseason top-25, UConn was not. Who’s the underdog now. Both teams got hot to close the season, and the first has yet to go out.

After Saturday’s win, Coach Stevens was asked if he did the usual chest bump in the locker room to celebrate the victory.

“I told them I’m not doing the flying chest bump until we get through the weekend,” Stevens said. He hope to save it for the final game of the season.