Notes Before The Game

INDIANAPOLIS — A few quick hits as we sit in the media room of Lucas Oil Stadium:

• We're under a tornado watch in Indianapolis right now, making this the second straight time that Indy has hosted the Final Four amid severe weather warnings. Duke and Butler students lined up outside had to brave rain and hail for a good amount of time before being let in.
• Butler's Matt Howard was upgraded to probable for the game. The 6-foot-8 center, who was knocked out of the Michigan State game early after suffering a mild concussion, participated in shoot-around today, and was "symptom-free" since the practice, Butler's head athletic trainer Ryan Galloy said.
• As everyone and his mother knows by now, Butler currently is on a 25-game winning streak. More impressive may be this fact: Butler is 5-0 in its last five games against ranked opponents. The Bulldogs are also 2-0 against ACC teams all-time.
• Since the NCAA Tournament expanded, Butler is the smallest school to reach the national championship game, with a listed enrollment of 4,200. The two schools playing have a combined enrollment of 10,540 students, the lowest number for national championship game participants since 1955.
• With a win tonight, Duke would be fifth all-time in title wins, moving one behind North Carolina and Indiana.
• Duke last played in the Final Four at Indianapolis in 1991... a Final Four in which the Blue Devils won it all.