Duke 61, Butler 59

What a game, and what a fitting end to an amazing tournament.

I'm having trouble putting into words the admiration I have for Butler and the way they flat-out refuse to let their opponent dictate the pace. Even down five late, their offense stalled and their dreams of a most improbable national championship slipping away, they played with a deliberateness that was almost alarming. They are a team that has an unwavering confidence in their system and each other, a faith that the game lasts 40 minutes -- not 35, not 38 -- and that if they are the best team, they'll come out on top in the end. That's the way they played all season, on their way to a 25-game winning streak, and it's the way they played over the last three weeks, winning their first five games in this tournament despite trailing in the second in each. Playing on a stage that even they probably didn't realistically see themselves on when the field was announced three weeks ago, the Bulldogs didn't get rattled, making the late baskets and getting the late stops they needed to give themselves a very real chance at winning the game on their final possession.

I also have admiration for Duke, never a popular team outside their fan base, but an especially villainous bunch this year, playing the foil to the sentimental favorites. It's not easy being the bad guy, but they did it. From the outset, the usual moaning about the Devils could be heard, the selection committee widely panned for paving Duke's way to Indianapolis not only by giving them a top seed that they arguably didn't deserve, but by slotting them in a bracket that was by most accounts the weakest of the four. But you can only beat the teams you play, and Duke did that, stepping up their play as their competition got better. This squad doesn't seem like a national championship team -- it's hard to see any of these guys having a substantial NBA career, and years from now casual fans won't remember Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer, and Nolan Smith, not to mention Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek. But there are plenty of great players who have gone through that program without winning a national title, and those five guys have one. That's really the bottom line, isn't it?

Despite all of this, I can't help but feel a little bit cheated by the ending. When Gordon Hayward's arcing, rainbow fadeaway seemed headed for the bottom of the net, we were just moments away from "Indiana wins the championship; Keith Smart is the hero!" And when Hayward, granted a second chance after that shot hit the back rim and bounced off, came within, oh, an inch or so of banking home a 45-footer to win the national championship, we were within that inch of "They won it! On the dunk!"

These are moments frozen in time, the kind of thing you don't get a chance to see very often. When you come as close as we did Monday night to one of those moments, you can't help but feel disappointed that it didn't pan out. I watched every replay CBS showed of Gordon's last-second prayer, and each time, I half-expected it to drop through, to see the crowd go crazy, and to hear one of Jim Nantz's signature premeditated calls.

That's the way these things are supposed to end, especially this one, with so many similarities to the movie Hoosiers: An upstart Indiana school whose home gym was used to film the final game; a powerful opponent for the underdog in the championship; an old-school, likable, unassuming star with a good look at the game-winner. Hell, Dennis Hopper's even in the hospital.

But that's not how things always work, and perhaps the setup was simply too perfect. Even Jimmy Chitwood misses on occasion.