Cameron Champions: Duke Fights Off Butler To Win 2010 National Title

Here’s some news to make the CBS suits smile: last night’s title game drew a 16.0 rating, the highest in over a decade, according to Sports Media Watch.

And, really, it shouldn’t be too surprising. After all, we had Duke -- essentially the Yankees of college basketball, a team everyone outside of Durham loves to hate -- pitted against a real-life Hoosiers story trying to become the first “real” mid-major (read: a program that doesn’t spend a ton) to win the championship in the modern 64-team era. Throw in a thrilling finish (the ratings peaked at 20.3 at 11:30), and you had the perfect storm for a ratings bonanza.

This is a headline that ran on the Indianapolis Star’s website last night. And... Uh... Oops?

“Believe it: Butler is National Champion after defeating Duke in title-game classic.”

If you hate Duke, prepare to be infuriated:

You can discuss in the comments, but just food for thought. For some reason, this whole discussion is couched in rhetoric about Krzyzewski’s performance “leading Team USA to Gold” and I’d just like to note two things. First, I can’t remember another coach getting anywhere close to as much credit for leading Team USA to a Gold medal, and second, Coach K probably had the most talented U.S. team since the Dream Team.

Since the game went late (and let’s face it, nobody wants to watch Duke celebrate), many of you may have missed CBS’ iconic “One Shining Momnent” montage. Or maybe you’d just like to watch it again. Whatever the case, you can click here to check it out.

Elsewhere on this site we’ve called “One Shining Moment” some not-nice names, and it’s really true. The song, itself, is pretty ridiculous. And that’s why my biggest complaint about this year’s video is that there was far too much Jennifer Hudson. It’s not about the stupid song, CBS. We get it; There was a new singer this year. No need to remind us by cutting away from the highlights every fifteen seconds to show Hudson singing in a recording booth.

Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) - Duke and Hall of Fame head coach Mike Krzyzewski are back on top of the college basketball world again, surviving an incredible effort from Butler, winning the NCAA Tournament title, 61-59, at Lucas Oil Stadium.

In one of the best championship games ever played, the Blue Devils nearly blew a five-point lead with under two minutes left but held on.

We’re now less than one hour from tip-off, perfect time to check in with the SB Nation blog network about Monday night’s national championship game between Butler and Duke.

At CougCenter, our Washington Sate blog, they offer an extensive preview, and point out what they think will be a key to the game: defensive rebounding, something Butler does very well.

Butler center Matt Howard, who suffered a concussion in the Final Four game with Michigan State, has been cleared by team doctors after not showing lingering effects and is expected to play in Monday night’s national championship game.

To say that Howard is an important part of the Bulldogs team would be accurate: last year’s Horizon League Player of the Year is Butler’s third-leading scorer this season, with 11.6 ppg. And at 6-foot-8, he’ll be needed to contend with Duke’s big man, 7-1 Brian Zoubek.

Back in 2001 when the St. Louis Rams were doing their Greatest Show On Turf thing, head coach Mike Martz had a term for a near flawless performance: Max Q. It referred to their hypothetical optimal level of play, regardless of the competition. Ladies and gentlemen, we witnessed Duke’s Max Q against West Virginia on Saturday.

Coach K’s squad scored over 1.4 points per possession against what had been a stout West Virginia defense, hitting an assortment of three-pointers from all over the court, with their front-line collecting their few misses to kick out for even more open jumpers. It was an eye-opening win for a Duke team who really hadn’t beaten any top teams during the regular season, flopping in most of their marquee nonconfenerence matchups.