There were two lessons from last night’s Butler-Georgetown game at the Jimmy V Classic: Georgetown is legit, and Butler needs to win a couple more nonconference games to be comfortable.  Greg Monroe (24 points, 15 rebounds) played like a man possessed and harassed reigning Horizon League Player of the Year Matt Howard into a miserable night from the field (1-9), with a couple close misses the direct result of Howard hearing Monroe’s footsteps.  Everyone knew that Monroe and company would provide great defense, but it is the offense that could potentially send Georgetown into the nation’s elite.  Austin Freeman had 18 points, and if he and fellow guard Jason Clark continue to provide a good scoring pop, the Hoyas will be a real Final Four threat.
     As for Butler, losses to Minnesota, Clemson and Georgetown hurt but are not fatal to their nonconference profile.  They have a nice win at Northwestern, and the UCLA win could look better by the end of the year, but they have to take care of a wounded Ohio State this week (and against a down Xavier team next week) to right the ship.  It is better for mid majors, even those as highly regarded as Butler, to not leave anything to chance come March.  If they win a couple more games they won’t let the committee express their BCS bias.  Another important thing to remember is that Butler is still a young team.  Howard, Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack will be back next year (providing Dickie V stops comparing Hayward to Larry Bird and the media convinces him to leave school early) and the Bulldogs will be better than ever.
     There was also some other game played last night between a terrible team coached by a guy who looks like a real jerk, and the most perennially overrated, dirty team in college basketball.