Butler Bulldogs (33-4) vs Duke Blue Devils (34-5)

NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Final Indianapolis, IN

Monday April 5, 2010 9:15 PM EST (CBS)

The Line: Duke - 7

It's a modern day David versus Goliath match up as the Duke Blue Devils take on the Butler Bulldogs in the NCAA Men's College Basketball Tournament Final.

The Duke Blue Devils find themselves back in the NCAA Final for the first time since 2001 and while we think of the Blue Devils as a perennial NCAA contender the reality of it is they have one of the worst all time records in NCAA finals. Duke has looked convincing in reaching this final and while many think that Duke has had the easiest road to the finals, there really is no easy road when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. Duke dominated West Virginia in their Final Four match up eventually winning by 21 points in a game they led by eight at the half. Duke knew they needed improved contribution from Kyle Singler and they got it as he scored 21 and had nine rebounds as other key contributors Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith had 23 and 19 points each. Brian Zoubek made his presence known on the boards grabbing 10 off the glass as the Blue Devils out rebounded the Mountaineers 29-27.

For the season Duke has averaged 77.4 points per game and shot 44.2 percent from the field while being one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the nation. Defensively Duke has been tough allowing just 61 points per game and 40.2 shooting percentage against while being extremely tough on the defensive boards. While it was considered a down year for the ACC, it's tough to consider this a down year for Duke as they are a game away from being National Champions.

For the second consecutive year we have a home team in the National Title game as Butler hopes to avoid the fate of their predecessor, Michigan State who lost last year's title game in Detroit. Butler had some big time lapses in their Final Four win over those same Michigan State Spartans but in the end they led by two on the scoreboard and in the end that is all that really matters. Butler went through long stretches without scoring as Shelvin Mack didn't play much in the second half with dehydration and Matt Howard was sidelined with what appeared to be a concussion. Mack still managed to finish with 14 points as Gordon Hayward led the Bulldog scoring with 19. While Butler had trouble scoring they made it very tough for Michigan State to score as well and while the Spartans shot a very credible 42.9 percent, shots were just few and far between. The Bulldogs will be looking for a similar effort on that end of the court.

For the season Butler's offense wasn't much to speak of averaging 69 points per game which ranks them 174th in the nation as they shoot just 44.5 percent from the field and are 281st in offensive rebounding. Defensively Butler seems to drain the oppositon of their will and makes them question themselves as they hold them to just 59.4 points per game which is ninth best in the country as they are ninth best in defensive rebounding and hold teams to just 41.5 percent shooting. Of course Butler's nation leading winning streak is well documented as well.

Duke has covered in all five of their NCAA Tournament games this year and they are 7-3-1 against the spread following a win by 20 or more points. Butler is 5-1 against the spread in their last six NCAA Tournament games and 20-6 against the spread in their last 26 games as an underdog.

This one shapes up to be a low scoring game and pace will more than likely decide it. We have seen Duke look convincing many times this season and then follow it up with games where they barely got the win, let alone the cover. We really only need to look back as far as the ACC Tournament and Championship game. Butler's style gives them a chance to win by keeping it close and it stacks up against the competition no matter who it is and I think they keep this one close enough to at least get the cover and the line is going up so we might get even more to work with.

Mitch's Pick: Butler + 7

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