Final Four

This year's NCAA tournament has been fun to follow, mainly because of Butler's second straight bracket-busting run.

Even without my kid who's now a Butler alum, I still would be a fan. Partly because they're from Indiana, but mostly because it's the sort of team I can admire. These guys aren't the types who went to college for only one year and only pretended to be students while they auditioned for the NBA (see Kentucky).

They're solid students and solid citizens who just happen to play basketball really well. Look at guys like Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard and Ron Nored, who seem to be both great basketball players and great guys. Look at their coach, Brad Stevens, and you'll understand the truth about how great teams are a reflection of their leaders.

Can they make it back to the Final Four? Sure.

Will they make it back? Who knows.

But to get this far the second year in a row when everyone still wrote them off as a fluke has been really fun to watch. If they lose to Wisconsin tonight it won't take away from what a terrific achievement it's been for them. I believe they've overachieved this year to an even greater degree than last year, because this year everyone they played knew better than to take them for granted.

But they still win every game by a whisker. I'll have to stay up late to catch every minute of the game, and hope they dispose of Wisconsin and move on to meet BYU (my pick) for the opportunity to play in another Final Four.