The Odd Stat of the Week

Issue: Did you watch that abomination of a national championship game?

Short Answer: Unfortunately, I did.

Reasoning: The NCAA national championship basketball game is supposed to offer us the best of the best of college basketball.  Two teams who have won five straight games against the toughest competition on the planet, battling each other for 40 minutes, to decide which is the best team in the entire country (and since college basketball at this level doesn't exist outside this country (maybe in Canada, but we all know that doesn't count), we can safely say the best team in the WORLD).  Anyone who knows anything about sports knows that it isn't always the two best teams that match up in the national championship game, but the two hottest teams.  I have been overly critical of the Big East on this blog (and I will continue to be so), but, UConn was undoubtedly the hottest team in the country.  They had won five straight games to win the Big East tournament crown (which is impressive, even in a weak conference), and five more straight games (that is ten straight for all you non-math majors out there) in the NCAA tournament.  It is tough to get any hotter than that.  However, Butler, going into last night, had won 14 straight games, i.e., possibly the second hottest team in the country.  So, we should have been in for one of the greatest championship games ever.  Should have.

What we were treated to, however, was easily the worst NCAA championship game ever, and, possibly the worst basketball game I have ever seen.  As Billy Hoyle famously said in White Men Can't Jump, "Is this s#%t regulation?"  It looked like both teams were playing on 12-foot rims or using an oversized ball.  UConn and Butler looked like Shaq shooting free-throws.  Neither could hit water if they fell out of a boat, sand if they fell of a camel, mud if they fell off a pig...okay, you get it.  This is the first time in my life I have felt sorry for the NCAA - could that game have been anymore anti-climactic?  The answer is no.

The Odd Stat of the Week is probably an obvious one to anyone who watched the game.  Even if you didn't see the stat or hear the announcers, you realized that Butler's futility was historical.  The only question is: how historical?  Well, ladies and gents, Butler just got finished shooting the worst field goal percentage in the history of national championship games.  Period.  I briefly saw a stat last night that said the previous record was held by Washington State in the 1941 national championship game (I didn't even know Washington was a state then), when they shot a paltry 21% from the field.  That seems impossible to beat.  You have to try to shoot that bad.  But, thanks to the Butler Bulldogs, a 70-year old record fell, and fell hard.  Butler shot 18.8% from the field (12 for 64) last night.  That, is the Odd Stat of the Week, but, listen to the rest of this*:

• UConn's 53 point total was the lowest winning total since 1949, when Kentucky (barf) put up 46 points in its win;
• Butler's 18.8% field goal percentage was the third lowest in any NCAA tournament game ever;
• Butler's 12 field goals tied a record low in an NCAA championship game - Oklahoma State had only 12 field goals against Kentucky in 1949 (which tells us how Kentucky won scoring only 46 points);
• Butler was 3 for 31 from INSIDE the 3-point arc.  Yes, they shot under 10% from 2-point range;
• Butler's 3 2-point field goals were the fewest by any championship game participant ever - by 6 (the previous low was 9).  Of course, we should give Butler some deference, because before 1986, there was no three-point line anyway, so, all buckets were 2-pointers.  No way any team is only making three buckets the entire game.

In the end, it is a shame.  I think most people outside of New England were rooting for Butler.  Brad Stevens, Matt Howard, and Shelvin Mack are all likable guys.  Plus, no matter what anyone says, they were underdogs.  Not many people had them getting out of the second round, including all the "experts" on ESPN.  It is mostly a shame because those guys choked on the biggest stage there is.  And, no matter how much we like the guys from Butler, they did choke.  But, after this year, I see no reason why they won't be back there again next year, fighting for a national title.  Are you going to doubt them?

* Stats taken from Andy Katz.