March Madness Review 2011

In 2011 March Madness delivered not only on excitement but had more dramatic upsets than ever before in the tournament's history. 2011 was the first year ever that no number one or number two seeded team made it through to the Final Four.

After an avalanche of upsets, the Butler Bulldogs faced Connecticut's Huskies in the final on April 4 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. It was not the best game of the March Madness 2011 tournament and ended with the lowest total score of the entire competition. The Huskies won 53-41. The final may not have been of the best quality game but the route to it was fascinating for both teams.

The Huskies were number three seeds for the west region and made an impressive start to their March Madness campaign by beating the number fourteen seeds, Bucknell, by a colossal 81-52 margin. Kemba Walker, who was almost personally responsible for delivering the Big East title to the Huskies averaging over 25 points per game, earned himself a mention in the school record books for his performance in the match in which he decided to be an initiator rather than purely a scorer. He still put 18 points on the board, had 12 assists and managed eight rebounds. With his support Roscoe Smith put 17 points on the board and Jeremy Lamb managed to add a further 16. Walker was given a standing ovation by the Huskies fans when he left the game with nearly four minutes remaining.

Number six seeds, Cincinnati were the next team to face the Huskies. Never before in the history of NCAA basketball had two teams based in the same conference come across each other at this early stage in the tournament. Walker suffered injuries to both his wrist and thigh during the game but still scored 33 of the 69 points that ended Cincinnati's hopes as they could manage only 58.

In the final sixteen, the Huskies faced the second seeded San Diego State at Anaheim, California. The Aztec's defense could do little to stop the irrepressible Walker. The final score was 74-67 to the Huskies. Walker scored a sensational 36 points with Freshman Lamb making his largest contribution of the season with 24 points.

Arizona were the next team to play the Huskies. They had just had caused an upset in the March Madness tournament with an impressive win against the number one seeded Duke, beating them 93-77. The West's regional final was a sensationally close contest with the Huskies prevailing by just two points to win 65-63. The Huskies' veteran coach, Jim Calhoun could barely watch as Arizona shooter, Jamelle Horne's final shot just failed as the clock ticked down to zero.

On April 2 in Houston, fourth seeded Kentucky lined up to do battle with the Huskies in the Final Four. They made a decent job of thwarting Walker but their own shooting was anything but hot. The result was a hard fought 56-55 win for the Huskies with Walker providing 18 points and Lamb making a useful contribution. Kentucky had planned well for defending against the Huskies but were shocked that their own shooting had fallen apart, depriving them of a place in the final.

The Butler Bulldogs had scraped their way through the early stages of the tournament. In the first round they trailed by two points against Old Dominion at the half. Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack were suitably inspired and both provided fifteen points for the Bulldogs enabling them to win. The final score was 60-58 to the eighth seeded Bulldogs. Even the Bulldogs' coach, Mr Brad Stevens agreed that it was not the prettiest game that they had played and that they were lucky to win. With just 32 seconds left on the clock the scores were equal. It was Matt Howard who managed a tip in right on the buzzer.

In their second game the Bulldogs were confronted with the top seeded Pittsburgh and caused a massive upset in the 2011 March Madness betting. Once again it was Matt Howard who decided the outcome of the game, taking the Bulldogs to a sensational 71-70 win. Afterwards it was the fouls that occurred in the final seconds that were the hottest topic of conversation. The Panthers player, the forward Nasir Robinson, blamed himself for the loss as it was his foul on Matt Howard that allowed them to clinch victory from the jaws of defeat in the final seconds.

Butler went on to face the fourth seeded Wisconsin in their final sixteen game in New Orleans. It was another major 2011 March Madness betting upset. And for once the game was not decided by a touch and go drama in the closing seconds of the match. They achieved a much more convincing performance with a 61-54 victory to reach the south east final. Butler even led the Badgers by a twenty point margin at one point during the game. For the first time they appeared to be credible contenders. Coach, Brad Stevens, was upbeat after the game, having admitted that Butler were exceptionally lucky to have got this far in the NCAA tournament.

Having conquered Wisconsin, Butler went on to face the second seeded team in the south east, Florida, in the regional final. On two previous occasions in 2000 and 2007 Florida had ended Butler's hopes in the NCAA and in 2011 were an ominous opponent once again with a significant size advantage over the Bulldogs. Yet again Butler managed to turn the tables on their supposedly superior (and not just in height) opposition and triumph in a dramatic finish. This time it was Shelvin Mack rather than Howard who sealed the game for them. Florida were compelled to foul Mack with just over ten seconds to go. He consequently succeeded in hitting both shots to achieve the closing margin of 72-70. Supporting the Bulldogs was once again not an occupation for the faint hearted, especially if you had been having a little gamble with the online sportsbooks. With a touch of Butler magic, they had made it through to the all important final four.

Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) were the next team standing between Butler and a place in the national final. Seeded eleventh in the south west, VCU had achieved some notable upsets in the March Madness betting on their way to the final four. They had beaten the top seeded team in their region, the mighty Kansas, by ten points (71-61) in their previous game. They had also conquered the third seeded team, Purdue by eighteen points. This was only the third time in the history of March Madness that a number eleven seed had even reached the final four.

VCU were known for their hot shooting but Butler's consistently impressive defense managed to stop them making the shots that had taken them through to the final four on Saturday April 2, 2011. Butler spent the majority of the game on the attack and Mack made another dazzling contribution having been named the most outstanding player in the south east regional final. Butler ended VCU's run of success by an eight point margin with a final score of 70-62.

In the March Madness 2011 final Butler may have lost to the Huskies but they made history of their own - they were the first team to reach the Final Four in consecutive years whilst seeded lower than second.