VCU Can't Shaka the World; Butler May Be Starting a Duke-like Basketball Tradition

Remember a time when Duke wasn't seen as a basketball power?

A time when Mike Krzyzewski was a name no one could pronounce, let alone spell correctly?

It may have been a long time ago, but it existed.

Before Duke became a team everybody hated because it was a private school that won basketball championships, it had an unknown basketball program in the shadow of the University of North Carolina.

Like Duke, Butler is a private school. Like Coach K, Brad Stevens was an young, unknown coach when hired by the Bulldogs.

But now, Butler is going to its second consecutive national championship game. And like Duke, it is doing it without sacrificing its reputation for academics.

If, like VCU, you make a run toward a Final Four as a mid-major, it's a Cinderella story.

And for the Rams, it was a remarkable one. But when you do it in two straight years like Butler did, you may be building something special.

And, one day, hated.