Duke, and Other March Villains

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»

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»

(NEWSER) - Louisville, UNC, Oklahoma, and Michigan are all headed to the Elite Eight after an occasionally ugly night of basketball. Here’s how it went down:

• In a night of lopsided victories, no one dominated more than Louisville. The Cardinals demolished Arizona 103-64, one of the most crushing blowouts the Sweet 16’s ever seen.
• UNC didn’t have much more trouble dispatching Gonzaga. A 17-point first half from Ty Lawson helped lead the Tar Heels over the Zags, 98-77.

(NEWSER) - It was a disappointingly sane opening to March Madness yesterday, writes ESPN’s Mark Schlabach. Only four out of the 16 games were won by the lower seeds, and only one of those—12-seed Western Kentucky over 5-seed Illinois—approached headline status. Top seeds UNC and UConn rolled, with UConn scoring the third-largest rout ever, despite the last-minute hospitalization of coach Jim Calhoun, who was being treated for dehydration. More»

(AP) - Louisville is king of the Big East. Earl Clark had 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead the fifth-ranked Cardinals to a 76-66 victory over No. 18 Syracuse last night, giving the regular-season champs their first Big East tournament title. The victory will probably translate into a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament for the Cardinals. More»