Morehead State head coach Donnie Tyndall (center) celebrates with Demonte Harper (22) and Terrance Hill (11) after defeating Louisville in the 2011 NCAA men's basketball tournament. (Chris Humphreys/US PRESSWIRE)

Not counting the play-in games that happened earlier in the week, the first round of the 2011 NCAA men’s basketball tournament has been nothing short of spectacular.

Matt Howard’s put-back lifted Butler over Old Dominion and Temple’s Juan Fernandez beat the buzzer against Penn State. But the best buzzer-beater from the opening week was executed by Morehead State’s Demonte Harper.

Harper buried a 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 4 seconds left to put 13th-seeded Morehead State ahead, 62-61, over fourth-seeded Louisville. Then, when Louisville’s Mike Marra tried to launch a last-second shot from the wing Morehead State center Kenneth Faried stuffed Marra’s attempt and no foul was called. Ball game!

Replays show that Faried got a lot of basketball on the blocked shot, and it would have been a shame if the game ended on a controversial foul call. Watch the play:

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Holy Jimmy Chitwood! The Butler Bulldogs are in the national championship game. In a tournament that has seen more one-shining-moments in recent memory, Butler just became the shining example of why America loves the NCAA Tournament.

Behind a rock-solid defense, the No. 5-seeded team from Indiana reached the championship game after overcoming Michigan State, 52-50, in one of the national semifinal games at Lucas Oil Stadium in – where else – Indianapolis.

Next up for underdog Butler is mighty Duke University – the last remaining No. 1-seeded team in the tournament.

The people who were responsible for bringing the movie “Hoosiers” to the big screen couldn’t have scripted this any better. Heck, the NCAA Tournament Committee couldn’t have scripted this any better.

Does Butler feel lucky to be in Final Four? Not at all. This is a squad that has won 25 in a row and was a preseason top-25 team.

“It doesn’t really matter. All that stuff is for debate,” said Butler’s thirtysomething head coach Brad Stevens, who will go up against the great Mike Krzyzewski in the final game. “It’s special to share this with the community and it’s special to share this with the city.”

“This team and this program has been built on guys ready to come in and contribute for the good of the team. It makes me proud to be their coach,” Stevens said after the win over Michigan State.

Duke against Butler is a matchup straight from the pages of Hollywood. The gap between the two schools when it comes to notoriety and accomplishments are about as long as a film strip.

However, the daunting task placed in front of them is met with quiet confidence. “I think our biggest strength is that we don’t know any better,” said Bulldogs guard Ronald Nored.

Duke has won three national championship banners since 1990 while Butler has none.

Duke has a roster filled with McDonald’s High School All-Americans while Butler’s players frequents McDonald’s during the season.

Duke’s campus is known for its Cameron Crazies while Butler is known for being the location of the movie “Hoosiers.”

It’s David vs. Goliath . It’s Georgetown vs. Villanova. It’s Milan vs. Muncie Central.

Jimmy, Buddy and Ollie…they’ve been replaced with Gordon, Shelvin and Ronald.

Can’t wait see how this story ends.

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Overanalyzing the NCAA Tournament bracket is about as common as allergies in springtime. That’s why they call it March Madness because college basketball followers, as well as non-followers, get too wrapped in sleepers, bracket-busters, upset specials and ESPN’s Bracketology.

That last entry is the root of all evil. Can someone explain to me what is a Bracketology? Is it a cross between biology and philosophy? And does ESPN’s Joe Lunardi have a doctorate in Bracketology? I love what ESPN has done for college basketball, but the whole Bracketology thing is just overkill.

So-called experts from the Worldwide Leader network lead us to believe that they are Nostradamus and they have all the answers. In reality, picking winners is one big roll of the dice. It’s easy to predict No. 1 seeds vs. No. 16 seeds. It gets a little dicey from that point on.

Here’s my prediction: The Kansas Jayhawks and the Kentucky Wildcats will play for the National Championship.

The Jayhawks have an NBA-type starting five, beginning with point guard Sherron Collins and ending with center Cole Aldrich. Both men have a championship pedigree, having experienced and played on Kansas’ national championship team two years ago. Add freshman sensation Xavier Henry and you have three legit All-America candidates.

Speaking of freshmen, Kentucky boasts two of the best this season in point guard John Wall and frontcourt player DeMarcus Cousins. Wall has shown incredible poise this season and has a knack for making big plays when it matters most. NBA execs and scouts love Wall’s size (6-3) and speed at the point, and his intangibles are off the charts. Wall has the same qualities as Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans, two freshman guards who played under John Calipari, and both are budding superstars in the NBA.

Cousins, a 6-11 power forward/center, is a very physical player who has very good back-to-the-basket moves. Cousins doesn’t shy away from contact and is arguably the best rebounder in college basketball.

Kansas and Kentucky also have two very good coaches on the bench. Self coached the Jayhawks to victory in the 2008 NCAA Tournament title game against Memphis. The coach for Memphis that year…John Calipari, now the head man in Kentucky.

So, save yourself the agony and scribble in Kansas and Kentucky all the way to the Final Four and into the final game.

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