Southeast, New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana
(8) Butler Bulldogs vs. (4) Wisconsin Badgers (9:57 p.m. on TBS): The No. 8-seeded Bulldogs and their head coach Brad Stevens are at it again. Though, this time Butler (28-9) is a little bit better known and it isn't as surprising that its basketball program has reached the "Sweet 16". What may be surprising is the Bulldogs are becoming the essence of the term "March Madness".
"Butler’s last four NCAA Tournament games have been decided by two points or less," cites Butler's athletic website. "And the Bulldogs have played five games decided by two points or less in the last seven NCAA contests!"
The Bulldogs last date with drama came Saturday night when they toppled No. 1-seeded Pittsburgh, 71-70, in the closing moments of a crazy game, which featured two fouls in the final second. The last foul allowed Butler's senior forward Matt Howard to sink a free throw with 0.9 second remaining to break a 70-70 tie. Of course we all know what happened in round two, and in last year's NCAA Championship game against Duke.
Howard has been this year's Gordon Heyward -- say that five times fast. Howard is Bulter's leading scorer (16.7 ppg), top rebounder (7.8 rpg) and is the main reason why the Bulldogs are still playing.
Junior point guard Shelvin Mack (15.6 ppg and 3.6 assists per game) not only has a wicked name, but he can control the tempo of the game.
Mack will match up against another stellar guard, Wisconsin's Jordan Taylor. Taylor (18.1 ppg) tallied 12 points and six assists in the Badgers' third-round victory against No. 5 Kansas State, 70-65. In his team's second-round victory against Belmont, 72-58, Taylor scored 21 points and added six assists.
"He's been great for us all year long, just making plays and making the right decisions," said Badgers leading scorer Jon Luer (18.6 ppg) on Monday in a teleconference. "Like you said before, his assist-to-turnover ratio is unbelievable. But at the same time, he's always making plays. That's just a result of his great decision-making. And you know, when he's got his opportunity to score, he's going to take it."
Leuer tallied a game-best 22 points and snagged seven boards against Belmont.
Prediction: This game not only has great match-ups on the court, but off it as well. Butler's Stevens and Wisconsin's Bo Ryan are fantastic at their craft. This is a don't miss matchup that the Badgers will pull out, 60-55.
-- Visit SB Nation's Bucky's 5th Quarter for more on the Badgers.