2011 NCAA Tournament - National Championship Game

The 2011 NCAA Tournament will come to an end Monday night when UConn and Butler meet for the National Championship. The game will cap an unbelievable tournament and crown a new champion. This unlikely matchup features two teams riding remarkable hot streaks. UConn has won ten games in a row, while Butler has won their last fourteen.  One of those streaks will come to an end tomorrow night. Jim Calhoun has the chance to join the likes of John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, Bobby Knight, and Mike Kryzewski as the only coaches ever to win three national championships. Butler has the chance to join Villanova as the lowest seeded teams to ever win the national championship. One way or another, history will be made when this one is all said and done.

3 UConn -3.5 vs. 8 Butler

How they got here:

UConn beat - Bucknell 81-52, Cincinnati 69-58, San Diego St. 74-67, Arizona 65-63, Kentucky 56-55
Butler beat - Old Dominion 60-58, Pittsburgh 71-70, Wisconsin 61-54, Florida 74-71 OT, VCU 70-62

Positional breakdown:

Backcourt (Advantage UConn) - You can't go against Kemba Walker
Frontcourt (Advantage Butler) - Matt Howard and Kyle Marshall are relentless on the boards
Coaching (Advantage UConn) - Jim Calhoun already has 2 National titles to his credit

Butler was inches away from taking home the National Championship last season. A half-court heave by Gordon Heyward at buzzer bounced off the rim and the Bulldogs' dreams were dashed. In an even more amazing journey, they have returned to the title game for the second consecutive year. This time they expect to win and hope to avoid the heartache that they had to endure in 2010. The 8th seeded Bulldogs will face 3rd seeded UConn for a shot at redemption tomorrow night. UConn finished 9th in the Big East this year, but Kemba Walker has lead this team marvelously and has them on the verge of the school's first national championship since 2004. Walker has had possibly the single greatest season a UConn player has ever had. Now that they have reached this point, he will not be satisfied unless the Huskies take the title. Butler has unfinished business of their own though. Look for Ronald Nored to get plenty of playing time and try to lock up Walker while making the other Huskies beat them. Jeremy Lamb, Shabazz Napier, and Alex Orhiaki will need to come up big. If they can get solid games from this trio, it will be heartbreak city for the small school in Indianapolis again. I expect a close game, but I can't imagine that Kemba Walker's epic run will finish with anything other than a championship. The UConn Huskies will have their one shining moment and cut down the nets in Houston, capping off one the most memorable tournaments we have ever had.

Prediction - UConn 66 Butler 61

Ringer's NCAA Tournament Record
ATS: 33-33
SU: 43-23