Editor's note: March Madness is too much for any one person to handle, so I'm adding help. The guys behind Ballin' Is a Habit, Rob Dauster and Troy Machir, will be contributing throughout March and into the Final Four, both with content from their Web site and original articles for us. This post originally appeared at BIAH.

By Troy Machir

- Butler will win it all, and there are nine reasons why

- Oklahoma might have themselves another NCAA violation

- Reasons why Michigan State will win it all

- Virginia Commonwealth beat Saint Louis to win the CBI

- A somber conclusion to the 2009-2010 Kentucky basketball season

- Jamie Dixon will stay at Pittsburgh, and get more money

- Tim Floyd should write a book called "Perhaps Maybe I Did It and Yes I'd Do It Again"

- Floyd also says he wasn't called about the DePaul job

- Reggie Theus is interviewing for the DePaul job

- Tulane lets Dave Dickerson go after five seasons; Questions remain unanswered

- Kevin Willard is introduced as the new head coach at Seton Hall; Doesn't take him very long to land his first recruit

- Rick Pitino gets extension thru 2017

- Jim Larranaga will stay at George Mason thru 2016

- ...So what you're basically saying is that Boston College wants Frank Martin?

- Was it risky for Iowa to hire Fran McCaffery?

- Iowa fans go crazy a bit overboard with the Fran puns

- Steve Lavin is optimistic about his new team's chances

- I had no idea how hot Lavin's wife is

- Could Andre Dawkins be Duke's X-factor?

- Joe Mazulla exemplifies a true mountaineer

- Travis Leslie aka "The Southern Dandy Dunk Machine" will return to Georgia for his junior year (OK, OK, I made the nickname up, but it's pretty fitting right?"

- Daniel Orton will test NBA draft waters

- So too will Viriginia Tech's Malcolm Delaney

- Kyle Whelliston and the Mid-Majority definitely win for having the best Best Bracket Contest

- Adam Zagoria wraps up a busy day in New York City hoops

- IF you want the latest coaching scoop, Jeff Goodman is your guy

- Mike DeCourcy answers five interesting questions

- Not all of President Obama's brackets are doing poorly

- Gambling Tips: Players to study

- Hating Duke has become second-nature to us all

You can find more of Troy's writing at Ballin' is a Habit and follow him on Twitter @BIAHtheTrizzle.

Filling out a bracket -- not picking your winners, but actually filling it out with winners, scores, etc – should be required for every college hoops fan.

I started in 1987 (enjoyed advancing Wyoming as the 12 seed) and haven't missed once since, though I miss using the broadsheet brackets brackets from newspapers. The 8x11 sheet of paper isn't quite the same.

Most probably just consult their online brackets in whatever tournament contest they've entered, but there are still quite a few people like me. Otherwise The Mid-Majority wouldn't have its As-You-Go Bracket Contest.

This contest isn't for people like me, who fill out both. Kyle Whelliston, who runs TMM, doesn't want you to enter that office pool. But for the chosen few who didn't fill out those brackets? Well, now they're filled in. Almost.

Have a look.

I'm torn between a couple entries: No. 1 and No. 8. I like No. 2 because it looks like something I would've done when I was 10 or 11, filling out those first brackets (if I had a little more 'tude). Yet No. 8 has that little something extra. I wonder if Max Fischer is really the architect behind it…

Mike Miller's also on Twitter, usually talkin' hoops. Click here for more.

Editor's note: March Madness is too much for any one person to handle, so I'm adding help. The guys behind Ballin' Is a Habit, Rob Dauster and Troy Machir, will be contributing throughout March and into the Final Four, both with content from their Web site and original articles for us. This post originally appeared at BIAH.

By Rob Dauster

It's a shame really.

On a day that saw two fantastic basketball games, two exciting finishes, and our Final Four filled out, the talk after the games had much less to do with the outcome itself than with how we got there.

It started with JP Prince, who was just 48 hours removed from a game saving block against Evan Turner and Ohio State. On Sunday, it looked like he may have had another, as Prince came from the weak side to help on Michigan State's Raymar Morgan, who had slid behind the Tennessee defense.

Prince went up for the block, and upon replay appears to have gotten all ball. Have a look by clicking here.

I've now watched this replay at good 12 times, and I think the referees absolutely made the right call. We can debate all day about whether or not Prince made contact, but Brian Williams absolutely did. If Prince wasn't there and Morgan had been able to go straight up, I bet Williams would have been called for a foul anyway.

The fact of the matter is that he came down full force with his left arm from the peak of his jump and knocked the ball loose with his elbow. Whether there actually was any contact (which I believe there was), the play just looked funny. It looked like it should be a foul. I'm not defending it, and I'm not saying that it is right, but 99 percent of the time a foul is going to be called in that situation.

And to be perfectly honest, Tennessee fans, if you want to complain about anything, complain about Scotty Hopson missing a free throw. Complain about someone -- Williams? -- forgetting to guard Morgan at the rim with under 10 seconds left. That is inexcusable, the kind of dumb, careless play that made people doubt a team with the talent that Tennessee had.

The score was tied with 11 seconds left and Tennessee still had a free throw to shoot. Hopson missed the free throw and Tennessee didn't guard the guy standing under the basket. Getting mad at the ref for calling that foul is like getting mad at the cop that gave you a speeding ticket when you were going 90 in a 55.

And of course, since the second game of the day was Duke-Baylor, you had to have known that there was going to be some sort of referee conspiracy.

There was.

It centers around two separate calls. The first was a charge on Quincy Acy. I'm sure you have all seen it by now but click here to watch the video.

This is about as close as you can get when dealing with a charge/block call. Zoubek might have been a little late getting set, but Acy leans in with his shoulder and his elbow on the play. Tough call either way, and far from an egregious error.

Its effect on the game was minimal as well. Let's be clear: Duke did not win this game because of this one call. Duke won because they got 23 offensive rebounds. Duke won because Baylor played as poorly as they have all season defensively. Duke won because they made their threes – 48 percent -- and Baylor didn't – 28 percent. Duke won because they got four offensive rebounds late in the game that led to three 3-pointers and one three-point play. Duke won because Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer (49 points, 9-16 threes, 3 turnovers) outplayed LaceDarius Dunn and Tweety Carter (34 points, 4-15 threes, 6 turnovers).

Just like Tennessee, the Baylor players decided this game. Not the refs. 21 fouls were called against Baylor, 15 against Duke (Baylor had to foul down the stretch). The only players to foul out were Zoubek and Josh Lomers, and they foul out all the time.

As far as the Jon Scheyer elbow goes, I think it is ridiculous that Acy got a technical foul and Scheyer didn't. I'm not saying Acy deserved one, either, I just don't think it is right to give a T to the kid coming in to defend his teammate and not to the kid that threw the elbow.

Here's the video.

If Scheyer landed that elbow, what happens?

Keep in mind, however, that this game was already decided when Scheyer started throw them 'bows. Tech or no tech, the only people it effected were the gamblers.

Don't let a disagreement with the way some whistles went ruin what was a couple good games.

You can find more of Rob's writing at Ballin' is a Habit and follow him on Twitter @ballinishabit.

There won't be any shortage of heart-warming stories regarding Butler's run to the Final Four.

The Bulldogs will be packaged as everything: plucky underdogs, overlooked contenders, defensive dynamos and the team from America's heartland who everyone will root for.

Maybe they're all of the above.

Paul Sakuma / AP

Will Butler be celebrating more this week?

Few expected Butler to reach the Final Four. Just 0.3 percent of users on ESPN Tournament's Challenge had the Bulldogs in the Final Four. That's out of more than 3 million submissions. Among a shortlist of college analysts, only SI.com's Andy Staples took Butler this far. Perhaps that qualifies the Horizon League school as an underdog.

Then again, the Bulldogs were ranked in the Top 25 all season. Heck, we ranked 'em 10^th in the preseason, just behind Duke and ahead of Cal and Tennessee. Sophomores Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack spent the summer playing in the U-19 USA basketball team. Matt Howard is a former league player of the year. Butler's got talent and has won 24 straight games. They're good. Simple as that.

And they're really good on defense. The Bulldogs are sixth on kenpom.com's adjusted defensive efficiency, ahead of West Virginia and Tennessee. They haven't allowed more than 60 points in a game since Feb. 26. Guards Ronald Nored and Willie Veasley badgers K-State stars Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemete into awful games on Saturday, just days after doing the same to Syracuse.

As for America's team, I suppose the only fans who won't be rooting for Butler are those of the other Final Four teams and anyone who doesn't like "Hoosiers."

Those still playing catch-up will have plenty to read all week, but the best place to start may be this story from SI's Luke Winn. It's a great read on the players, the coach, the school and everything that's gone into this Final Four run.

But if that's enough, try this.

That's right. Coach Brad Stevens celebrates victories by chest bumping freshman walk-on Emerson Kampen.

How can you not love this team?

Mike Miller's also on Twitter, usually talkin' hoops. Click here for more.

Editor's note: March Madness is too much for any one person to handle, so I'm adding help. The guys behind Ballin' Is a Habit, Rob Dauster and Troy Machir, will be contributing throughout March and into the Final Four, both with content from their Web site and original articles for us. This post originally appeared at BIAH.

By Rob Dauster

I was in attendance at the Verizon Center in DC on March 23rd, 2008, when Joe Mazzulla had 13 points, 11 boards, and 8 assists as seven-seeded West Virginia knocked off second-seed Duke to advance to the Sweet 16.

Which is why I wasn't surprised to see Joe Mazzulla go for 17 points and 3 assists as the Mountaineers knocked off the East Region's one seeded Kentucky Wildcats. The kid can play.

What may have been the most surprising part about last night was that he was even on the court.

Since that Duke game, things haven't exactly gone well for him. In July of 2008, he was arrested at a Pittsburgh Pirates game for underage drinking and allegedly assaulting a police officer. Nine months later in April of 2009, he was charged with domestic battery outside of a bar in Morgantown, which led to an indefinite suspension from all team-related activities.

But the suspension didn't matter all that much.

In December of 2008, in what would have been Mazzulla's junior season, he collided with a Mississippi defender, fracturing the growth plate in his left shoulder -- his shooting shoulder.

He tried to play through the injury, but the pain was too intense. He sat out the rest of the season after having surgery on his shoulder, a surgery that no basketball player had ever returned from.

"He didn't know if he would ever play again," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said after the game. "They had never done that surgery on a basketball player. Everybody that our medical staff talked to said, including the guys that are the foremost authorities on those kind of things in the country, if you could avoid surgery, avoid surgery."

Not exactly the ideal life for a college athlete. Two arrests in nine months, an indefinite suspension from all team-related activities, and to top it off a surgery that forces you to do two hours of therapy every day with no guarantee of getting you back onto the court.

"We tried to talk to him a lot," Huggins said after the game. "He came in one day and he had tears in his eyes. He said, 'Huggs, what am I going to do if I can't play?'"

Mazzulla was still trying to overcome this injury at the start the season. He sat out the first game of the year, and once he got back on the court, he spent the early part of the season playing right-handed; Mazzulla is a lefty.

It really limited his minutes. West Virginia couldn't play him late in game -- when they needed his leadership and ball-handling -- because teams would simply foul him and put him on the line.

Now take a step back and think about that. Really think on the kind of leadership that provides. Here's a kid that can't use his left hand, that can't even shoot the ball, and he's out there playing -- defending, setting a screen, diving in for a loose ball -- doing anything he can to help the team win.

And all with one arm.

"He's the un-questioned leader," Wellington Smith told Jameson Fleming after the game.

According to Huggins, Mazzulla wasn't able to shoot left-handed until about a month ago.

Coming into tonight, Mazzulla hadn't hit a three all season long.

In one of the more prophetic moments in this year's NCAA Tournament, Bobby Huggins said this to Pete Thamel on the New York Times during Friday's off-day: "You might see [him shoot] tomorrow. He's playing really well. He's shooting the ball really well. If he makes a couple he could really have a great game."

Eight minutes into the game last night, Kentucky looked like they were poised to run away from the Mountaineers, using an 11-0 run to take a 13-6 lead. Mazzulla knocked down a three that ended the run and held West Virginia over until Da'Sean Butler could catch fire.

Butler would proceed to score 15 points in the last eight minutes of the first half, sparking a West Virginia team that didn't hit a two point field goal in the first half (8-15 from three, 0-15 from two, 4-5 from the line) to a 28-26 halftime lead.

The second half was the Joe Mazzulla show. He scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half, with nine of them coming in a 19-10 surge in the first eight minutes of the half that put WVU up 47-36.

Mazzulla scored in a variety of ways, beating Kentucky down the floor in transition (he had one hesitation move in the open court that left John Wall frozen) and breaking them down in the half court.

As Huggins said, all it took was one shot to go down and Mazzulla's went off.

But, as anyone that has watched West Virginia this season, Mazzulla's biggest impact wasn't on the offensive end of the floor. The Mountaineers ran their 1-3-1 zone to perfection last night, daring the Wildcats to shoot from the perimeter (they were 4-32 from three) while forcing them out of a rhythm offensively. Where this zone was going to be dangerous, however, was on the back line. Kentucky has the best big man in the country in 6-foot-11, 270-pound, DeMarcus Cousins.

Mazzulla, who is generously listed a 6-2, 200 pounds, plays the back like of that 1-3-1.

And while Cousins went for 15 points and 8 boards -- 6 offensive -- Mazzulla's effort not only limited the touches Cousins was able to get, it frustrated him. He got in Cousins' head. Anyone watching the game could see the arm-flailing, the disgusted looks, and Cousins barking at the refs.

"At one point in the game, he looked at me and said 'Are you serious?'" said Mazzulla. "I said, 'Yeah, I'm serious. You're going to have to punch me in the face for me to get off you.'"

Mazzulla didn't just lead by example.

With eight minutes to go in the second half, there was a sloppy sequence. John Wall missed a three. Butler grabbed the rebound, but his outlet pass to Devin Ebanks was stolen by Wall. Wall tried to dribble through three defenders, turned the ball over, and Butler found Ebanks all alone at the other end. But Ebanks bobbled the ball, losing it out of bounds instead of bring the house down with a dunk.

He was frustrated, but Mazzulla was the guy that reached Ebanks first.

"He told me to move on and forget it," Ebanks said. "He knew I wanted to dunk it so bad. I calmed myself down after I listened to him."

He set the tone defensively, he is the team's leader, and he just so happened to score a career-high 17 points while playing on one shoulder.

That's why he won the East Regional MOP while averaging a gaudy 7.0 ppg and 3.8 apg.

You can find more of Rob's writing at Ballin' is a Habit and follow him on Twitter @ballinishabit.

Paul Sancya / AP Can Michigan State reach its second-straight Final Four?

Forget about Cinderella for a day. Sunday's regional finals are all about the comeback.

Each of the four teams vying for a Final Four berth has overcome different degrees of crisis at some point.

Midwest Regional opponents Michigan State and Tennessee don't have their best players. The Spartans lost point guard Kalin Lucas during a second-round NCAA tournament win against Maryland, while the Vols dismissed swingman Tyler Smith in January because of various drug and weapons charges.

The South Regional foes haven't had that kind of attrition, but don't overlook their issue. Duke's been coping with failing to live up to expectations for the last five seasons, and Baylor's program imploded after the 2003 season because of a player's murder.

At this point, it's fair to say all four have done well in their comebacks. Still, two will advance to Indianapolis next week. So let's break it down.

Michigan State (27-8) vs. Tennessee (28-8), 2:20 p.m. ET
There won't be an uncontested shot in this game, unless it's a breakaway dunk. That's how these two play. Nothing's easy for an opponent on offense.

The Vols showed as much against Ohio State, challenging nearly every pass and shot. If not for a 28-point night from Evan Turner, who found soft spots in the Tennessee defense with a series of 9-foot jumpers, the Vols might have breezed into the final. For that, credit goes to their remarkable offensive rebounding, particularly from senior center Wayne Chism.

Tennessee grabbed an astounding 56 percent of their missed shots. Chism had five of those himself and finished with a team-high 22 points. Ohio State simply couldn't keep track of him underneath the basket.

Hard to imagine Michigan State will have that problem, though. The Spartans are among the best rebounding teams and rarely allow an opponent to control, let alone dominate the boards. They shrugged off a bad first half against Northern Iowa by concentrating on the boards and letting their big men assert themselves.

The result was a series of open looks for guards Korie Lucious and Durrell Summers, who combined for 29 of Michigan State's 59 points. And that was in the first game without Lucas. It seems likely that Lucious, who played 39 minutes vs. UNI, will be even more comfortable running the offense now.

"That's kind of enjoyable, to find a way," said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, now 28-9 since 2000 in the NCAA tournament. "It's somewhat more rewarding than the last two."'

Oddsmakers favor Tennessee by two, while kenpom.com predicts a 68-67 Michigan State win.

Duke (32-5) vs. Baylor (28-7), 5:05 p.m. ET
Perhaps it's hard to look at Duke as a comeback case, but don't overestimate the pressure put upon the Devils.

Their 70-57 win against Purdue was the first time they'd beaten an NCAA tournament team seeded higher than 5 since 2001. Now they're looking for their first Final Four berth since '04, a "drought" most schools would love. Considering they've been a 1 or 2 seed in five of the six tournaments in that span, it's no wonder Duke has naysayers.

The Devils still feature a potent offense and efficient defense, but have added a degree of toughness that may have been missing the last few years.

"We've been in some tough games throughout the year," said guard Jon Scheyer. "So when we look at each other, we know what we need to do as a team."

Usually that means looking for Scheyer, Kyle Singler or Nolan Smith to take a shot. If it misses, one of Duke's big men usually grab the miss. Tough to beat that style.

Perhaps Baylor has the answer.

The Bears turned in the best performance of the Sweet 16, thrashing St. Mary's 72-49. And it wasn't even that close.

Guards LaceDarius Dunn and Tweety Carter combined to score 37 points and hit 7 of 13 attempts beyond the arc – most of which were in the first half. Even better, neither had a turnover. If there's a tandem capable of withstanding Duke's defensive pressure and stretching the defense with 3-pointers, it's these two.

Baylor also has the size to matchup with the Blue Devils. Center Josh Lomers and forward Quincy Acy are efficient scorers (they don't take bad shots) and hit the offensive glass hard.

But the ultimate wild-card is junior forward Ekpe Udoh, who's more athletic than anyone in Duke's frontcourt and a fabulous shot blocker. If he disrupts the Devils' inside game, the South coulod see an upset.

Duke's favored by five points, while kenpom.com predicts a 71-65 Blue Devil win.

Mike Miller's also on Twitter, usually talkin' hoops. Click here for more.

Editor's note: March Madness is too much for any one person to handle, so I'm adding help. The guys behind Ballin' Is a Habit, Rob Dauster and Troy Machir, will be contributing throughout March and into the Final Four, both with content from their Web site and original articles for us. This post originally appeared at BIAH.

By Rob Dauster

This is not your typical Duke team.

You see, 'Duke' has become synonymous with 'soft' in recent years. Talent isn't what was questioned with the Blue Devils. What the Dukies didn't have was that mean streak. They didn't defend like a Final Four team. They didn't rebound like one. They settled for far too many threes.

You didn't fear playing Duke. You didn't go into a game against the Blue Devils thinking "win or lose, I'm going to be sore tomorrow" like you do with a West Virginia or a Kansas State.

Is it safe to say that's changed now?

There may not be a tougher player in the country than Purdue's Chris Kramer.

The guy is built like a bowling ball and plays the game like a middle linebacker. He isn't afraid of contact, relishing the role of defensive stopper for a team that prides themselves on allowing nothing easy on that end of the floor.

Yet it was Kramer that found himself laying on the court twice as a result of a big screen from Duke center Brian Zoubek, the second of which seemingly knocked Purdue's tough-guy into la-la land.

There may not be a better example of this change in demeanor than Zoubek.

Before the season started, if I would have called Brian Zoubek 'tough' or a 'mean SOB', you would have laughed in my face, and rightfully so. He was the 7-footer who flopped more than Manu Ginobili, a gangly mass of flailing arms that wouldn't know a post move if it punched him in the face.

But this year, Zoubek is a guy that you don't want to play against.

Zoubek has always been big, but big only gets you so far if you are afraid to throw your weight around. Zoubek still has no offensive game to speak of, but Duke doesn't need offense out of him. They have Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer, and Nolan Smith to get them buckets.

What Zoubek does is set a tone inside. He crashes the glass, averaging 10.2 rpg -- with 4.1 of those coming on the offensive end -- over his last 13 games. Is it any wonder that during that stretch, Duke has allowed more than 61 points just twice while going 12-1? Since postseason play began, the Blue Devils have allowed just 55.6 ppg, 5.4 points below their season average.

Keep this in mind -- toughness isn't just a physical attribute.

There is something to be said for being mentally tough.

The first half of last night's game between the Blue Devils and the Boilermakers was about as ugly as basketball gets. The game had no flow, as Duke slugged their way to a 24-23 lead. The Blue Devils shot just 24 percent from the floor with Jon Scheyer and Nolan SMith combining to go 2-16 from the field.

Because you know eventually, Duke's big three are going to get it going. And in the second half, they did. Smith, Scheyer, and Singler -- which sounds more like a law firm than a starting back court -- scored the first 25 Blue Devil points in the second half. And after Smith scored seven straight in the span of 1:21, Duke took a 49-40 at the eight minute mark. Purdue would get no closer than six the rest of the way.

And whether you like the cliché or not, it takes mental toughness to suffer through a poor shooting first half like that and still have enough confidence to hit big shots late.

In last year's Sweet 16, the Blue Devils found themselves down 26-23 to Villanova at the half. They tried to run with the Wildcats in the second half, and only managed to run themselves off the court, losing 77-54.

Last night, Duke out-grinded a team known for its ability to win a physical slugfest.

And that right there is the difference in this Duke team, the reason the Blue Devils have a very real shot at getting to the Final Four that has eluded them since 2004.

You can find more of Rob's writing at Ballin' is a Habit and follow him on Twitter @ballinishabit.

Editor's note: March Madness is too much for any one person to handle, so I'm adding help. The guys behind Ballin' Is a Habit, Rob Dauster and Troy Machir, will be contributing throughout March and into the Final Four, both with content from their Web site and original articles for us. This post originally appeared at BIAH.

By Rob Dauster

Let's call it like it is: Michigan State probably should not still be playing.

Kalin Lucas is done for the season after tearing his Achilles' tendon in the first half in the Spartans' second-round game against Maryland. Chris Allen is playing on a bum foot. Delvon Roe's surgically repaired knee has been giving him problems in the tournament, which wasn't helped by the shot he took early in the game to that knee.

This is a team that has dealt with focus, leadership, and, in reality, just about any kind of issue that can plague a team. They lost five of their last 10 games coming into the tournament, blowing a three game lead in the conference at the midway point and getting knocked out in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament.

This is a team that got beaten by Illinois the last time they played without Lucas. Illinois is not the defensive team that Northern Iowa is, and Korie Lucious, starting in the place of Lucas, had six turnovers and looked overwhelmed trying to run the team.

This is a team that found themselves down 29-22 at the break, looking positively atrocious offensively in the first half, shooting just 7-22 from the field.

I doubt I'm the only one that was starting to toy with the idea of an Elite 8 involving Tennessee and Northern Iowa.

But this is Tom Izzo we're talking about.

And you don't doubt Tom Izzo in March.

They came out in the second half a different team. The Spartans were able to get the ball inside and score, which in turn opened up some space on the perimeter for Spartans shooters to get free.

All told, Michigan State hit eight of their first nine shots to open the second half, going on a 21-8 run to open the half, taking a 43-37 lead eight minutes in and nearly equaling the number of points they scored in the first 20 minutes. From then on, it was the Spartan's defense that took over, holding UNI to just 10 free throws over the final 10:22 of the game, getting a couple impressive buckets from Raymar Morgan and Lucious in the final two minutes to give the Spartans the win.

So what is it about Izzo?

The man is 28-9 in the NCAA Tournament since 2000. His Spartans have been in 13 straight fields, reaching nine Sweet 16's, five Final Fours, and winning a national title in 2000. After beating Northern Iowa, he is now a win over sixth-seeded Tennessee away from making yet another Final Four. I get that this year a Final Four run will have been aided by a crumbling Midwest Region, much like his trip to the 2001 Final Four was.

But isn't that the point?

While high seeds are getting upset all around him, Izzo simply keeps on winning, the Goliath seemingly immune to the stones thrown by David.

So I ask again, what is it about Izzo that makes him so good in the tournament?

For starters, I'm not sure there is a better in-game coach than Izzo. You need a game plan drawn up, call Izzo. You're not sure what adjustments need to be made at halftime, call Izzo. Who do you go to in crunch time? Izzo probably knows.

There's also something to be said for the confidence Izzo and his team probably has in the tournament these days. Think about it like this: Lucious was 2-8 from the floor on the night. With 1:30 left in the game and the Spartans up 53-51, Izzo called Lucious's number, isolating him in a 1-4 set and allowing him to go 1-on-1 and make a play.

His response?

A crossover into a spin back the other way, hitting a fadeaway off of one foot from 15 feet away. That's not an easy shot.

And Lucious buried it.

But maybe, just maybe, could it be that there is no rhyme or reason to his success?

Could it be that he just knows his players and knows how to win the tournament?

Is it too simple to say that Izzo is just a great coach?

You can find more of Rob's writing at Ballin' is a Habit and follow him on Twitter @ballinishabit.

David J. Phillip/AP Saint Mary's Matthew Dellavedova is defended by Baylor's LaceDarius Dunn.

Defense ruled Friday.

Tennessee got in Ohio State's face, Duke and Purdue shoved each other around and Michigan State outlasted Northern Iowa.

And Baylor? Well, the Bears mauled St. Mary's in every facet -- including defense.

It's been the theme of this year's NCAA tournament, so why would Friday be any different? If you weren't gassed, you weren't playing.

"I was tired," said Tennessee J.P. Prince. "I just said I'll save it all for defense. That's all I did. I know those last two minutes I was going to make them work. I knew nobody wanted it more than I did."

The Buckeyes sure didn't. Ohio State never stood a chance with the Volunteers challenging every shot and harassing star Evan Turner into six turnovers.

The added bonus was Tennessee grabbing nearly half of their missed shots. If defense wasn't enough, hustling for those rebounds was enough for the 76-73 victory.  

The Vols' next opponent, Michigan State, was its usual stout self, holding Northern Iowa to 38.6 percent shooting and owning the boards. (And once again was the last Big Ten team standing.)

The Spartans held the Panthers to just four points in the final 4:16, resolve that's not new to Tom Izzo, now 28-9 since 2000 in the Big Dance.

Defense was almost enough to carry offensively challenged Purdue past Duke.

The No. 1 Blue Devils went long stretches without a field goal, and didn't even reach 20 points until less than a minute left in the first half. It was nearly enough to offset some nasty defense from the Devils, who held Purdue to just 37 percent shooting and .85 points per possession.

When Purdue scored just 11 points in 11 minutes in the second half, Duke turned a two-point lead into a nine-point edge – more than enough to hold off Purdue in a game like this.

The 70-59 victory not only sent Duke back into the Elite Eight for the first time since 2004, it ended a 26-game stretch in which it hadn't beaten an NCAA tourney team seeded higher than fifth. Credit the defense.

That defense has an even bigger task Sunday against Baylor.

The Bears' mix of hot shooting and defensive pressure allowed them to turn a 6-5 lead into a 46-17 halftime advantage. They stymied center Omar Samhan – who entered the game averaging 30.5 points in the tournament – blitzed guards Matthew Dellavedova and Mickey McConnell and never let up.

When the whistle sounded on their 72-49 victory, they'd completed perhaps the best overall performance of the last three rounds.

"We come out and just play, you know, with the coach that we have that allows us to come out and be ourselves," said guard Tweety Carter. "It really helps you relax and know that you can make those shots and take them with confidence, not just take them to be taking them. But I always want to come out aggressive. I always want to come out aggressive and try to set the tone early and win the first meeting. I think we did a good job coming out and staying within ourselves, but also being aggressive."

No kidding. Baylor's 1.25 points per possession gave them an efficiency margin of nearly half a point, a gap more befitting of a first-round matchup between a 1 and 16 seed, not the Sweet 16.

It also should be enough to worry Duke, which will enter Sunday's primetime game sore and stiff after their throw down with Purdue.

Perhaps Butler's not the only feel-good story of the tournament. Maybe the Bears have a little magic in them as well, coming just seven years after the 2003 scandal involving the death of player Patrick Dennehy by another player, Carlton Dotson.

"It's something we did as players," Quincy Acy told ESPN.com. "We just feel like there's something special going on here. You can feel it. I don't know how to describe it but you can feel it."

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The two best teams remaining in the NCAA tournament may very well be playing in the East Regional final Saturday night.

Such is life for Kentucky and West Virginia that one won't be in the Final Four.

The No. 1 Wildcats (35-2) are loaded with future NBA prospects, five of whom could go in this year's draft lottery. They're as skilled, deep and athletic as any D-I team. More impressive? They play some nasty defense, too.

Jim McIsaac / Getty Images

John Wall and Kentucky are trying to reach their first Final Four since 1998.

Then again, so do the Mountaineers. Coach Bob Huggins wouldn't have it any other way. In fact, West Virginia (30-6) hasn't allowed more than 60 points in the last six games by challenging nearly every shot and grabbing nearly every rebound.

Nothing will come as a surprise to the coaches, either. Huggins and Kentucky coach John Calipari are great friends (terrific read here on what Calipari did when Huggins had a heart attack in 2002) whose teams are excelling. So how will it all shake out Saturday night (CBS, 7 p.m. ET)? Let's take a look.

West Virginia will again be without point guard Truck Bryant, whose absence was apparent during Thursday's 69-56 win against Washington. The Mountaineers committed more turnovers in the first half (13) than they averaged all season (11.6), and coughed it once roughly every three possessions.  

"It was tremendously uncomfortable, especially this time of year," said 6-9 forward Devin Ebanks, who ended up doing much of the ball-handling. "Having our point guard out was a huge blow to us. We played kind of poorly in the first half."

Of course, since West Virginia grabbed an astounding 56 percent of their own misses, the turnovers didn't sink Huggins' team.

If the Mountaineers come even close to that rebounding performance against Kentucky, they'll be in great shape because the Wildcats feature the nation's best rebounder in center DeMarcus Cousins.

The nimble, 6-10 freshman averages 15.1 points and 9.9 rebounds a game, but both would undoubtedly be higher if he could stay out of foul trouble. Cousins plays just 23 minutes a game, but when he's on the floor, he grabs 20 percent of Kentucky's missed shots and 25 percent of opponents'. He's a beast. But he's hardly the only Wildcat weapon.

Junior forward Patrick Patterson grabs the rebounds Patterson doesn't and also hits 58 percent of shots. Freshmen guard Eric Bledsoe is on a scoring binge, sophomores Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins are long, swift defenders and freshman center Daniel Orton is starting to emerge as a capable back-up to Cousins.

Then there's freshman point guard John Wall, the probable No. 1 pick in June's NBA draft. He's the best player left in the tournament – and Ebanks' defensive assignment.

Meanwhile, all that talent is playing some nasty defense right now. For all of Kentucky's offensive ability, it may be the defense that's too much for West Virginia.

Oddsmakers have Kentucky by 4, while kenpom.com predicts a 67-65 Wildcats win.

Mike Miller's also on Twitter, usually talkin' hoops. Click here for more.

Watching Butler and Kansas State in the West Regional finals on Saturday (CBS, 4:30 p.m. ET) might be a showdown of similarities.

Both feature a suffocating defense and rebound very well. Both rely on their dynamic backcourts to control the game. And if you get an open look at a 3-pointer, it'll be a rarity.

Throw in the historical pressure – Butler's never been to the Final Four; K-State hasn't been since 1964 – and something's gotta give.

Paul Sakuma / AP

Can Jacob Pullen and Kansas State get past Butler?

So let's break it down.

The Bulldogs (31-4) are riding the nation's longest win streak (23) and are just one victory from playing in their hometown of Indianapolis during the Final Four. They're not big – only two regulars are taller than 6-foot-3 – but it hardly matters. Ask Syracuse, which committed 18 turnovers and made just 43 percent of its shots during a 63-59 loss on Thursday.

Guards Shelvin Mack, Willie Veasley and Ronald Nored are capable of hitting from beyond the arc (Mack's the main option), but most of their time is spent ensuring the opposing team's guards don't get an open shot. Nored spent most of Thursday in the hip pocket of Syracuse guard Andy Rautins, who hit 4 of 9 shots, all with a hand in his face.

Inside, Matt Howard (he of the sweet 'stache)and Gordon Hayward spend their time grabbing rebounds, blocking the occasional shot and scoring efficiently, which is to say they shoot once the Bulldogs find them for a short jump shot or layup. This isn't a team that wastes time with the mid-range game; it's either a 3-pointer or a chip shot.

Don't expect them to be rattled by K-State's defensive pressure. Butler knows it's coming.

"Under any circumstance, I think we're poised," Nored said.

Then again, they haven't seen pressure like this in months.

The Wildcats (29-7) use their guards, Jacob Pullen, Denis Clemente and Dominique Sutton, in an aggressive man-to-man defense that usually results in a bevy of turnovers. Opponents do well if they manage just one error every four possessions. Sometimes they'll throw a 1-3-1 halfcourt trap, but only for short spurts.

After a 101-96 double overtime victory against Xavier, it'll be interesting to see if the guards show some fatigue. Clemente and Pullen combined for 98 minutes (and a dazzling 53 points).

K-State's frontcourt has a slight size advantage on Butler. Jamar Samuels, Curtis Kelly and Wally Judge are all between 6-7 and 6-9, and could be considered more athletic, but aren't nearly as efficient on offense.

If the Wildcats have an edge, it's their frontcourt depth. While the guards spend the game shooting and checking each other, the big guys will be scrapping down low and trying not to foul out, especially Howard. He's fouled out of nine games this season.

The oddsmakers like the Wildcats to win by four, while kenpom.com predicts a 69-66 Kansas State win.

Mike Miller's also on Twitter, usually talkin' hoops. Click here for more.

It's all coming together for Butler, which is just one win from playing in its first-ever Final Four. By happy coincidence, the Final Four is at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, just a short drive from the Butler campus.

Is that synergy? Luck? Fate? All three? Who can say?

What's even better for the non-BCS fans of the world – Cinderellas unite! – is that two other schools also have a chance to ready Indy (St. Mary's and Northern Iowa, which play in the West Coast and Missouri Valley, respectively).

If any or all the three do make it to Indy, college hoops fans will be treated to a healthy of dose of The Mid-Majority all week. Consider it the cherry on top of a delightful Cinderella run.

For those who don't read The Mid-Majority, shame on you. Never fear, there's still time.

Start with this fantastic story from Kyle Whelliston, the driving force behind the site. It's a look at the St. Mary's brand of basketball, which he likens to old-school Celtics teams and elite European teams. In short, they play beautfully.

The Gaels, who play Baylor in the South Regional semifinals Friday night, have become a bit of a tournament darling thanks to their talented, quotable center, Omar Samhan, and the sharpshooting guards, Matthew Dellavedova and Mickey McConnell, among others.

But if Butler, St. Mary's and UNI all fall short, the Final Four will be a BCS-only show, and Kyle won't be attending.

So do yourself a favor, root for the underdogs to reach Indy. It'll be good for your soul, and for those who want more of The Mid-Majority.

Mike Miller's also on Twitter, usually talkin' hoops. Click here for more.