The NCAA tournament ends with a game for the ages

Posted on Tue, Apr 6, 2010 : 9:25 a.m.

The NCAA tournament ends with a game for the ages

By Michael Rothstein

Duke players celebrate on the court after their 61-59 win over Butler in the men's NCAA Final Four college basketball championship game Monday, April 5, 2010, in Indianapolis.

AP photo

Gordon Hayward let the ball fly through the air from half court, one last miracle heave in a tournament full of last-second shots and upsets and drama.

The NCAA tournament that introduced the world to Samhan (St. Mary's Omar) and Ali (Northern Iowa's Farokhmanesh) and reintroduced the Ivy League to the Sweet 16 had a most epic ending on Monday night.

Hayward, Butler's sophomore star, had two chances to knock off Duke and win the NCAA tournament, but both clanged off the rim - on line but barely missed - allowing Duke to achieve greatness, writes Joe Posnanski of SI.com.

So while the team the majority of America wanted to lose won, it capped off a heck of a tournament with perhaps one of the Top 5 games in college basketball history.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL:

CBS Sports.com: Duke's title comes at the end of an all-time game

Sporting News: Butler never lost its fight

ESPN.com: Pat Forde thought Butler's last shot was going in

SI.com: Luke Winn calls it one of the greatest championship games ever

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Coach K calls it a landmark game in the NCAA tournament

The Big Lead: One Shining Moment wasn't very good this year (Eds. note: I agree)

Chicago Tribune: Oliver Purnell is leaving Clemson for DePaul

Boston Herald: Cornell's Steve Donahue is the front-runner for Boston College

AnnArbor.com: David Brandon thinks expanding the NCAA tournament is a bad idea

COLLEGE FOOTBALL:

ESPN.com: Adam Rittenberg's Mailbag

AnnArbor.com: Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Robinson breaks down the Wolverines cornerbacks

Chicago Tribune: Notre Dame recruit Matt James died of brain injuries, toxicology report to come

Comments

mgobluegold

Tue, Apr 6, 2010 : 12:14 p.m.

I watched this game and it was very good, very exciting, but where was the UM Football part? I think I missed the 'UM Football' part of this game, for this post....did players warm up by tossing a UM FB, did the coaches talk about how the new freshman are going to help this team, the concessions people about Spring Game barbeque - I'll read it again but........