Almost game time

Just under 12 hours now from what I consider the official tipoff of March Madness. My picks are now finalized and I have vowed to not change them again; I did go back and make some minor adjustments. None that I don't think will crush me to horribly much, but we will see when things begin tomorrow. Even with Irving possibly playing for Duke, the Blue Devils have burned me enough times when it gets to the Sweet 16 round and I really don't feel sure about them I pick against them. Thus after much debate and trying to decide I went with my gut and took Rick Barnes and the Texas Longhorns for the upset in the round of 16. My Final Four is locked then with Ohio State vs. Texas and Kansas vs. Florida. I would assume Texas-Ohio State will be the second game on Final Four Saturday night on CBS.

Now we get down to business about my Butler Bulldogs. What a game this will be later today at 12:40 p.m. on truTV. From reading the shoot around press-conference transcripts earlier it sounds to me like Blaine Taylor not only plays a zone but various forms of it. He plans to give Butler a bunch of different looks tomorrow. You gotta figure Stevens will go back to what worked against Syracuse in the Sweet 16 round last year in Salt Lake City and see what the guards can do to penetrate and either dish on the blocks or kick it out for mid-range to long-range jumpers. One thing is for certain, the Dawgs will need consistency from the outside tomorrow at somepoint during the game to pull through.

I don't know what is about me and not like Butler in transition. It seems to me this team does best regardless of who they are playing if they get into a halfcourt set. I am reading Butler needs to exploit Old Dominion when they get a rebound since the Monarchs send everyone to the glass. I like the concept, but it just seems to me when Butler runs like that way it tends to get out of hand sometimes. Maybe that's just me. Now if it's a controlled break (if there really is such a thing) then that strategy might be able to work. But the key is going to be each defender finding a body and blocking out to get the rebound in order to begin the break.

Defensively, it's about rotating over when the ball gets into the post and Hassell has it. You can't let him get the ball on the block and be one-on-one with either Smith, Marshall, or Howard. That will spell certain doom for Butler. If Smith and Howard get in foul trouble that's another sign it's going to be a long afternoon for the Dawgs. Honestly though Matt has done a great job not picking up silly fouls most of the season. Plus his hustle fouls have been less of factor than they were in year's past and that's a great sign of improvement.

The key to the game tomorrow is the guard play - keep the ODU guards from getting the ball inside and make them shoot; get them deep into the shot clock. On offense the Dawgs need be able to have control transition for one and two recognize what the Monarchs are doing defensively when they set up in the halfcourt sets. As previously said ODU is going throw several looks and don't be shocked if they come out with some sort of junk defense against Howard and Mack or Howard and Nored. Tomorrow the shooter's roll has to return for Hahn. He's due. Been due since the Hawai'i games during Christmas.

This game is such a tossup it could go either way. I see it being medium range scoring somewhere in the low 60s to low 50s. When the smoke settles on this one I'll go with my heart - give me the Dawgs 61-57