Don't Buy Big East Hoop Hype

Huskies take 3rd national title with 53-41 win

(AP) - Kemba Walker scored 16 points and Connecticut beat Butler 53-41 on Monday night to give Jim Calhoun his third national championship, something only four other coaches have done. The Huskies did it with defense holding the Bulldogs to a Final Four-record low 18.8 shooting percentage (12 for 64). Connecticut capped one of college basketball's best postseason runs, winning six games in the NCAA tournament after winning five games in as many days to win the Big East title. It was the second straight year Butler lost in the championship game. Last year they were beaten 61-59 by Duke. More»

Jayhawks snag overall No. 1 seed

(NEWSER) - Overall No. 1 seed Kansas leads the field of 65 NCAA tournament teams, with Kentucky, Duke, and Syracuse—late-season slump and all—topping their respective brackets. The 32-2 Jayhawks, who won the 2008 title, captured this season's Big 12 tournament and will tangle with Syracuse in one semifinal if the seedings hold up. The Orangemen (28-4) won the regular-season Big East title but fell to Georgetown in the opening round of the conference tournament. More»

(NEWSER) - A quest to play pro football might keep a Duke basketball player in school for another year, ESPN reports. Greg Paulus, who has used up his basketball eligibility at Duke, has been offered a tryout for the school’s football team—but at receiver, not quarterback, where he starred in high school. Yesterday, Paulus visited the University of Michigan, which has an uncertain quarterback situation, the Detroit Free Press reports. More»

Popularity has sucked all the charm out of the tournament

(NEWSER) - In the '60s and '70s, the NCAA tournament was boring because UCLA seemingly always won. These days, "instead of UCLA winning it every year, there are now between five and nine UCLAs that can win it every year," Charles Pierce writes for Slate. "It's just as sterile and dynastic as it used to be." It’s oligarchy rather than monarchy, but it feels just as stale. More»

(AP) - Blake Griffin might be the nation's best player. North Carolina brushed him aside with a total team effort. Ty Lawson scored 19 points and Danny Green added 18 to lead the top-seeded Tar Heels to a 72-60 win over Griffin and Oklahoma today in the South Regional final. North Carolina (32-4) advanced to the Final Four for the second straight year and will play Villanova in the national semifinals. More»