Butler Bulldogs vs. Kansas State Wildcats - Box Score - March 27, 2010 - ESPN

Butler downs Kansas State

Ostensibly, this appears to be a #5 beating a #2, but that's not the whole story at all. To tell you the truth, this is not really an upset at all, but the result of some poor tournament alignment that caused Butler to get hosed in the seeding process. This was actually an even match-up of two teams that should both have been #2 seeds. Butler (The Fightin' Jeeves) finished the season ranked 8th nationally in the coaches' poll (just below Kansas St). The Jeeves were ranked higher than Villanova, for example, which did get a #2 seed and promptly proved that they should not have. Butler proved that they should have earned that #2 in the first place by beating Syracuse and Kansas State back-to-back, and they have not lost a game since Christmas, for heaven's sake. Even if Butler had not received the #2 seed awarded to Villanova, they should have been no lower than a three. For some reason, they were seeded below Pitt and Vandy in the West regional, which seems incomprehensible in retrospect.

Anyway, Butler is in the Final Four. There are two ways to look at that: (1) it's a surprise that the #5 seed crawled in; or (2) it's not surprising that the 8th-ranked team in the nation made the top four. I vote for the latter. The Jeeves didn't cruise in on a fluke. They beat the #1 team in their bracket, then beat the #2 team just two days later. They convinced me.

Don't be surprised to see Butler playing for the national championship. Their next opponent (either Midwest #5 Michigan State or Midwest #6 Tennessee) will be easier than the last two. Of course, getting to the national championship game is not the same as winning it.