ABC-7 Viewpoint: Reporter Attends Final Four Hoping For Upset Of Miner Proportions

Forty-five years ago, 35-year-old Don Haskins coached tiny Texas Western to an NCAA Basketball Championship, beating Adolph Rupp’s mighty Kentucky team 72-65.

Monday night, 34-year-old Brad Stevens will try and do same for small school Butler against future Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun’s powerful UConn team at Reliant Stadium.

That parallel is what led me to take a few days off at ABC-7 this week and put together a last minute trip to the Final Four with my brother Brian, buddy Jon Eckberg and brother in law Art Neria.

Airline ticket: $250. Hotel next to Reliant Stadium: $175. Tickets to NCAA semifinals and championship game: $100. Getting to see my first Final Four with my big brother: Priceless!

We all agree, we came to see history. A Butler win, whether the other media wants to believe it if not, would be the first small school to win it all since Coach Haskins and his Miners did it in 1966.

While trying to sneak into Sunday’s Butler and UConn practices, we ran into CBS’ Greg Gumbel outside Reliant Stadium. I told him we came from El Paso to see history … repeat itself. He shrugged.

I even pointed out, had Kentucky beat UConn, Butler would have been facing the same school in the title game that Texas Western did in ’66. He shrugged again and said something like “if this and if that.”

Regardless, I hope he got the message. Tonight is about about something that hasn’t happened in nearly a half century in college basketball.

David Lattin, a star on that TWC title team, is a native of Houston. I spoke with him this morning. He sees tonight as potentially historic as well.

“I am rooting for Butler,” Lattin said. “And I am so excited about the game.”

Lattin wants to see history.

“It would be nice to see Butler win it,” he said. “We all root for the underdog. I think we all like to see the little guy beat the big guy.”

Just like Coach Haskins and Texas Western did, 45 years ago.