Can the Butler Bulldogs Keep Going?
To the average college basketball fan, Butler is a team that came out
of nowhere in the past two seasons with a pair of appearances in the
NCAA championship game.
Die-hard fans know better.
Of Butler’s 11 NCAA tournament appearances, all but three have come
since the 2000 tournament. Butler has made five straight appearances in
the Big Dance, making it past the first round every time except 2009,
when it lost to LSU by four points.
Take a look at the teams Butler has extinguished over the years. Wake
Forest, Louisville, Maryland, Syracuse, Michigan State, Pittsburgh and
Florida have all fallen prey to the Bulldogs. They also lost to
Tennessee by five points, and everyone remembers the loss to Duke by
two for the last-second Butler shot that banked off the glass and fell
away.
No, this isn’t a team that’s going away anytime soon.
Think about the obvious. Butler is in Indianapolis, a city of close to
800,000 residents that offers plenty of chances to enjoy a big-city
atmosphere while attending college. The Bulldogs also have more
visibility thanks to coaches like Mike Krzyzewski. At the post-game
press conference in the 2010 championship game, Krzyzewski said Butler
coach Brad Stevens should stay put if other offers come along and the
school should also pay him more.
If that isn’t an endorsement, what is these days?
The fact is, Stevens’ coaching skills and Butler’s increased visibility
are making the school a more attractive place to play. Butler gets… or
should get… regular television appearances on CBS and ESPN, so anyone
who wants to play in front of a national television audience for a team
that has made two straight national-title game appearances would be
very happy.
Five recruits are on the 2011-12 squad, including four-star guard
recruit Rotnei Clarke and point guard Jackson Aldridge, a native of
Australia. Three of last year’s five starters are gone, including
forward Matt Howard and guard Shelvin Mack, who combined for 32 points
per game last year.
The old expression for teams that always compete is “they don’t
rebuild, they reload.”
Butler may be on the verge of being able to say that every year. No
one’s thinking three-peat for a national title chance, but the Bulldogs
may be among the teams in the NCAA tournament once again.
Read the in-depth preview for Butler basketball
