Fun facts about the Final Four schools

By now you may or may not know that the NCAA tourney has dwindled from 65 teams to just four. Unfortunately, the boys in blue. I'm sorry, UK blue, are no longer in there. They were knocked out in the Elite Eight by a very strong West Virginia team.

Anyway, I found these fun facts about the final four teams over on ESPN, and thought that they would be fun to share.

Butler Bulldogs

Location: Indianapolis
Enrollment: 4,512
Colors: Blue and white
School motto says: “Education, Research, Service”
Original name: North Western Christian University, founded in 1855
White House connection: Harry S. New went to Butler and went on to serve as Postmaster General in the Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge cabinets.
Last NBA draft pick: Lynn Mitchem, 1983, ninth round
Mascot trivia: Butler Blue II, a 60-pound English Bulldog, celebrated his sixth birthday last week and even has his own blog. He roams around Hinkle Fieldhouse with a gigantic bone in his mouth during games. Hink is the costumed version of the bulldog.

Duke Blue Devils

Location: Durham, N.C.
Enrollment: 13,662
Colors: Royal blue & white
School motto says: “Knowledge and Faith”
Original name: Union Institute, founded in 1838
White House connection: Reggie Love, the personal aide to President Obama, played basketball and football at Duke and was on the Blue Devils' national championship team in 2001. Oh, and Richard Nixon got his law degree at Duke.
Last NBA draft pick: Gerald Henderson, 2009, first round
Mascot trivia: In the 1920s, nominated mascot possibilities included the Blue Titans, Blue Eagles, Polar Bears, Royal Blazes and Blue Warriors. The student newspaper began using Blue Devils for the sports teams, and it caught on.

Michigan State Spartans

Location: East Lansing, Mich.
Enrollment: 47,278
Colors: Green and white
School motto says: “Advancing Knowledge, Transforming Lives”
Original name: Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, founded in 1855
White House connection: Spencer Abraham, a Michigan State grad, was the Secretary of Energy during George W. Bush’s first term.
Last NBA draft pick: Goran Suton, 2009, second round
Mascot trivia: Sparty the Spartan was named national mascot champion in 2007 after impressing with a skit featuring spoofs of Kiss, Lord of the Dance and Justin Timberlake.

West Virginia Mountaineers

Location: Morgantown, W.Va.
Enrollment: 28,898
Colors: Old Gold and blue
School motto says: “Add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge”
Original name: Agricultural College of West Virginia, founded in 1867
White House connection: William Courtney, a West Virginia grad, served as U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan and Georgia for Bill Clinton.
Last NBA draft pick: Joe Alexander, 2008, first round
Mascot trivia: Rebecca Durst became the second female Mountaineer mascot in school history this year. She carries a rifle and wears buckskin and a coonskin cap. She does not, however, have to grow a beard.

Credits: Diamond Leung, ESPN

Noteworthy Games - Edition: 3.14.10

There were four games yesterday. All four were conference championships. In one game a team was playing not only for a conference championship but for its only chance to get into the NCAA tourney, an automatic bid. Another game featured a team that had beaten three teams, one of them unranked, and the #11 and #5 ranked teams in the nation to reach it's conference championship. By the way, did I mention the team doing so was unranked? Next up, you have a team that is always on the national radar. Finally, a team that has been a NCAA tourney bracketbuster on numerous occasions.

I know that I have had a bit of a love affair for Minnesota lately. I also realize that the last two days, I have started off talking about them. So...why should today be any different? The Golden Gophers took on Big 10 powerhouse Ohio State yesterday and got their asses handed to them in the championship game. Final score, 90-61.

In all fairness though, this was their fourth game in as many days and they had overcome some huge obstacles to make it into the championship game. Those obstacles being the #11th (Michigan State), and #5th (Purdue) ranked teams in the nation. Did I mention that they did all of this as unranked team? Coach Tubby Smith and company, to you I tip my hat. You have nothing to be ashamed of!

Next up we have the nail-biting, barn-burner that featured the University of Kentucky and Mississippi in the Southeastern Conference final. Words really could not do this game justice, and so here are the highlights from ESPN.com.

John Wall scored 7 of his 17 points in overtime as the Wildcats won their 26th SEC tournament title and first since 2004. UK is now 8-0 in games decided by five points or less and/or OT.

Eric Bledsoe led the Wildcats with 18 points and has scored in double figures in four straight games.

DeMarcus Cousins, whose tip-in at the buzzer in regulation sent the game to overtime, finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for his 20th double-double of the season.

In short, Kentucky(#2) rallied from five down with 2:28 left in regulation to beat Mississippi State. Final Score: 75-74

Temple beat Richmond to win its 3rd straight Atlantic 10 title. Final Score: 56-52

In a ACC tournament filled with upsets, it took a gritty effort from Duke to hold off a determined comeback from the (tournament) seventh-seeded Yellow Jackets from Georgia Tech, who were trying to become the first team in tournament history to win four games in four days. In the end though, there was just to much Duke. Final Score: 65-61

Noteworthy Games - Edition: 3.13.10

I love my Wildcats, LORD knows I do, but I cannot help but start off with Tubby Smith and the tenacious Golden Gophers of Minnesota. Minnesota held the Boilermakers(#5) to the worst first-half in Purdue's record books and rolled to a 69-42 victory in the Big Ten tournament semifinals.. It was the fewest points by Purdue in a half since the school started keeping track in 1950. Only a late layup by Patrick Bade allowed the Boilermakers to avoid the worst defeat ever in a Big Ten tournament game. Minnesota led 37-11 at the break and by as many as 34 points in the second half.

"I thought it was a very impressive and dominating performance," Smith said. "It's as good a half as I think I've been a part of as a coach."

The Golden Gophers will play Ohio State(#7) on Sunday for the Big 10 tournament championship.

Going into the SEC tourney, UK had two losses in the course of the regular season. One to South Carolina which they were able to avenge in late February. The second loss came at the hands of Tennessee in the two teams second match-up of the season. Both contests were decided by less than twelve points. Yesterday UK got a chance to avenge that second loss of the season in the semifinal round of the SEC Tourney. This time, it wasn't even close. UK handed the Volunteers their most lop-sided loss under Coach Bruce Pearl.

Of the loss, Pearl, said "We got outplayed at every position, and Kentucky's the No. 2 team in the country for a reason. They're a really, really good team. We just did not have the energy after playing two games and coming back and playing this third game. We just didn't have it."

The Vols fought tooth and nail but in the end, the Cats were just too much. Final Score: 74-45

Kansas State(#9) has not won a Big 10 tournament title in 30 years. After yesterday, make it 31. Kansas(#1) continued it's dominance winning its seventh Big 10 tournament title. Final Score: 72-64

Ohio State(#7) needed two overtimes to come away with the win and advance to the Big 10 final on Saturday. The Fighting Illini of Illinois put up a strong battle, but it in the end, they had no match for Ohio State's Player of the Year contender Evan Turner. Final Score: 88-81

Duke (#$) had to fend off an extremely pesky Miami of Ohio team to advance to the ACC Tourney final where it will meet Georgia Tech. Final Score: 77-74

More later!

- b