FanHouse Brad Stevens

In an effort to talk about something college basketball-related other than scandals in the summer, let's talk best current coaches. We'll attempt to order the top 25 current coaches in the nation. This is about the present and the future, not the distant past. What a guy did in the mid-90s doesn't matter near as much as the direction his program is currently headed. Past pedigree also matters, to an extent. For the perfect mix of past accomplishments with present achievement and a paved road for future success, look no further than the man atop the list.

For the third straight season, the Butler Bulldogs are the regular season champions of the Horizon League. For fans and second-year head coach Brad Stevens, though, this title has to be a little more sweet than last year's -- due to lowered expectations because of the significant losses from last year's stout squad.

The clinching win Saturday, however, was anything but easy. Cleveland State used 14-2 spurt in the second half to take a small, brief lead. The game see-sawed back and forth the rest of the way.

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Forgive me if you're already pregaming for the Emerald Bowl or have been waiting since May to see if heavyweight also-ran Dominick Guinn can recover from his loss to Eddie Chambers but I do believe ESPN's programming whiz kids are making a mistake tonight. Those are your programming options in prime time on ESPN and the deuce while the considerably smaller ESPNU gets one of the biggest early season college basketball games. The Butler Bulldogs are bringing their nationally ranked show to Carbondale for a mid major bonanza of hoopy goodness.

Southern Illinois was the preseason darling of the mids but their horrific shooting has them at 5-5 entering tonight's game with the 16th-ranked Bulldogs. Their offense has always been problematic but their rebounding has taken a hit this season, which may explain why they can't win as often.

Butler and new coach Brad Stevens are poised for a return trip to the Sweet 16, maybe further. A.J. Graves and Mike Green are a splendid backcourt and the freshman Matt Howard has given them inside balance. They can shoot and score in bunches but have struggled a bit with the turnovers. Can SIU exploit that and pick up a big win to propel them into conference play?