The Best Tourney Ever?

As we came to the conclusion of the 2010 NCAA Tournament one should wonder, is this the best tournament we have ever seen?
Looking back, to the first and second rounds, we witnessed numerous overtime games, memorable buzzer beaters and UNI upsetting the number 1 overall seed (Kansas) in the tournament. Two number five seeds reached the final four in Indy, and Duke was the only number 1 seed to survive through all the turmoil leading up to the final four. Butler was America's team in the final four and also became the first mid major school to make it to the championship game since the NCAA went to the 65 team tournament. Not only that, but they were able to make it to Indianapolis where their campus was just 6 miles from where the games were played. Butler's semi final game against Michigan St. was a thriller as it went down to the wire. Michigan St. came up short as their hopes for returning to the championship game for the second strait year were broken by Butler's cinderella run. Going into the their game against Duke, Butler had won 25 strait games, the longest winning streak going into the championship in history. As for the championship game itself, it couldn't have gotten much better, as their were numerous lead changes, and the largest lead held in the game was 6 points by Duke early in the first half. Duke held off the Bulldogs in Lucas Oil Stadium for their 4th National Title. I don't want to take anything away from Duke, their win was well deserved as they continuously got better as the tournament went on, and were most definitely the best team left in the tournament when the final four began, but the real story belongs to Butler. Many made "Hoosier" comparisons to the Bulldogs improbable run. Butler's home gym is where the legendary "Hoosiers" won their Indiana State Championship. The majority of people didn't give Butler a chance to make it to the finals, but when you watched them play, you knew each player on that Butler team knew they belonged. They were one possession away from winning the National Title, one shot away from making history, and even though they lost, you can't take anything away from what those players and coaches endured. Imagine the story lines if sophomore Gordon Hayward would have hit that half court shot at the buzzer. And though it didn't have a story book ending, Butler accomplished something special and the 2009-2010 Bulldogs will never be forgotten for what they overcame.
This was the year of the underdog as teams such as Cornell, St. Mary's, Northern Iowa and of course Butler showed that they can run with the best of them. As a result we were able to witness in my opinion one of the best, if not the best tournament for many years to come. Again, this is why I call it the best time of the year.