Non wrote: Butler seems a little bit like Duke Jr.

Like the Duke teams from the 80s. Coach K was young, in his 30s, like Stevens.

Not entirely similar because Duke already made Final Fours and championship games in the 60s and 70s.

Butler could very well be a one-year wonder but who knows if the young coach hangs around. They're in Indianapolis which is a good spot to recruit if you can start to establish success on a national level like this.

Red_Skin_Pride wrote:

Non wrote: Butler seems a little bit like Duke Jr.

Like the Duke teams from the 80s. Coach K was young, in his 30s, like Stevens.

Not entirely similar because Duke already made Final Fours and championship games in the 60s and 70s.

Butler could very well be a one-year wonder but who knows if the young coach hangs around. They're in Indianapolis which is a good spot to recruit if you can start to establish success on a national level like this.

That is very true, but a lot of depends on academic standards and athletic facilities as well. Obviously having an energetic, and proven success of a young coach helps immensly, as does geography, BUT if Butler is hard to get into academically, or if their facilities are below average, they will be like any other "upper crust" mid-major (think Gonzaga; I held this same belief about them about 7 years ago, but they haven't progressed any since then, and facilities are the biggest reason why) who is competitive, but not as successful as most major schools.

Laley23 wrote: Duke should win by double digits.

BTW, 15 million a year is enough to get anyone to at least ponder a decision for a few days. I dont care what they have going for them.

People forget that Duke got absolutely destroyed by Georgetowm this year.

swamisez wrote: I will stick with Ken Pomeroy, I think Duke will win this game 66-59.

They become the first to break 60 on the bulldogs.

that being said, I am still nervous as heck. Felt like I was gonna vom before the WVU game. I am way too emotionally invested at this point, gonna be nice to have a break. Constant defense of Duke takes it out of the fan base as well as players.

centralbucksfan wrote:

Laley23 wrote: Duke should win by double digits.

BTW, 15 million a year is enough to get anyone to at least ponder a decision for a few days. I dont care what they have going for them.

'Cuse should have won by 20....KSU should have won by 15....MSU should have won by 10. I do think Duke will win. But I won't be surprised if Butler does. And I wouldn't bet against them at this point if I were a betting man. This team isn't a fluke anymore. At this point in the NCAA, nothing would surprise me.

ccrunner609 wrote:

gibby08 wrote: Sadly....

Duke 80
Butler 70

Butler isnt scoring anywhere near 70 points on Duke

Laley23 wrote:

centralbucksfan wrote:

Laley23 wrote: Duke should win by double digits.

BTW, 15 million a year is enough to get anyone to at least ponder a decision for a few days. I dont care what they have going for them.

'Cuse should have won by 20....KSU should have won by 15....MSU should have won by 10. I do think Duke will win. But I won't be surprised if Butler does. And I wouldn't bet against them at this point if I were a betting man. This team isn't a fluke anymore. At this point in the NCAA, nothing would surprise me.

Actually, Duke has the biggest spread in Vegas than any of them. Butler was favored over MSU. Cuse was favored by about 5, and KSU by 3.5. Duke is favored by 8.

As for my reasoning, Duke provides by far the most match-up problems. Nored can shut down Scheyer if he plays well, but thats about it. Not to mention, I think Duke has the players (Singler) to stop Hayward.

I wont be shocked to see Butler win at this point, but Duke SHOULD win by double digits.