Butler's NCAA Tournament Dream Ended Saturday Night. Playing the Part of Butler This March Will Be ...
By Jason McIntyre
While you were watching North Carolina dismember Duke Saturday and stake claim to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, Cinderalla wept.
Butler, the darling of the last two NCAA tournaments, lost to Valparaiso in the Horizon League semifinals, ending the Bulldogs’ season (unless you count NIT games).
"Butler had won 13 consecutive March games. It had been 1,081 days since the Bulldogs lost in March, dating to a loss to LSU in the 2009 NCAA tournament."
Everyone could see this coming at the end of last season, when Shelvin Mack declared early for the NBA draft, breaking up the always-exciting Butler backcourt of Mack and Ronald Nored. Still, who could doubt Brad Stevens in a big spot after those back-to-back glorious March runs?
The team was just too young and the Horizon too-improved. Perhaps next year.
Mid/low majors voted most likely (by me) to make a Butler-type run in March:
* Wichita State: Too obvious? The bandwagon was overflowing before it careened into a wall over the weekend in the Missouri Valley conference tournament. The Shockers had won eight in a row. They’re probably looking at a 5-6 seed, and if the committee wants to have fun, it should pit them against Washington (or whoever emerges from the Pac-12).
* Belmont Bruins. Don’t laugh – the Atlantic Sun champs are rated higher by Ken Pom than the following teams: Virginia, Florida State, Louisville. Early in the season, the Bruins played Memphis kind of tough and stuck with Duke at Cameron until the very end. If Belmont gets a 10 seed, the No. 2 seed in that region should be worried. If Kansas was the No. 1 seed, and Belmont was 9th, I’d wager on the Bruins, whatever the spread.
* South Dakota State. The 19-point win at Washington remains one of the season’s biggest upsets. I could see maybe one win in March, but two or three would be downright shocking.
Somewhat interesting subplot that nobody’s really talking about: Coinciding with Butler’s mediocre season was the rise of Indiana back to Big Ten power. Tom Crean has Indiana as a fringe Final Four contender, and even if it doesn’t happen this year, if Cody Zeller stays, the Hoosiers will open next season in the Top 10, maybe Top 5 (depending on other NBA defections).
All anyone wanted to talk about the last two years was how Brad Stevens could have had any job opening he wanted. Why’d he stay? Because he’s a Midwest guy who probably wouldn’t take any other job … except Indiana. Tom Crean appears to be through the doldrums. Butler fans can seemingly rest easy for the next few years.