This has to be an April Fool's Day joke a day late, right?

A Horizon League team playing for the national championship two years in a row? If it didn't actually happen before my eyes, I wouldn't believe it.

That's how improbable the Bulldogs' run to two straight title game appearances is to me.

It ranks up there with Villanova shocking Georgetown to the win the 1985 title and North Carolina State stunning Houston to win it all in 1983.

Should Butler win the national crown on Monday, it will never top what 'Nova and N.C. State accomplished. The two teams each team defeated, Georgetown with Patrick Ewing, and Houston with Hakeen Olajuwan and Clyde Drexler, were all-time great teams never  to win a title.

Nonetheless, Butler and Coach Brad Stevens continue to shock the college basketball word. A win on Monday would double that shock.

The Horizon League team is playing for the national championship for a second straight season. Still can't believe it.

- Mark Podolski