A major topic of discussion this past week was how mistreated the mid-majors have been in recent years by the NCAA tournament selection committee. Butler is definitely one of the best teams in the nation not from the so-called BCS conferences. The Bulldogs were slotted against LSU, a team from the most maligned BCS conference, the SEC.
Not only did Butler lose to LSU in the first round of the tournament on Thursday, but they came out completely flat and seemed noticeably overmatched in the first five minutes. Sure, things settled down and Butler was in the game to the end, but this game did nothing but reinforce the supposed under-representation of the mid-majors when it comes to at-large berths.
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.
Headlining: The beauty of a Tuesday column, at least this season, is that whoever ends up No. 1 can do so with an asterisk based on Monday's games. (*In case you didn't know already, Pittsburgh beat Connecticut.) And it appears that next week, we'll likely have a new No. 1 team in the nation. That will likely be Blake Griffin and the Oklahoma Sooners. Which is fitting, considering Griffin dropped a rediculous 40-point, 23-rebound Valentine's Day stat line on Texas Tech Saturday night.
The Davidson Wildcats and Stephen Curry have been a disappointment this season, relatively speaking. Curry is leading the nation in scoring, which is quite impressive, but the Wildcats don't seem nearly as dangerous this year as they did in 2008.
Part of that could be that they no longer retain "sleeper" status. Or part of it could be that they no longer have the heavily underrated Jason Richards manning point for them. Or maybe they just have three losses to nationally-ranked teams. Either way though, they'll be playing the highly-ranked Butler Bulldogs on February 21 in the headlining game of ESPN's Bracket Busters.
When we were took a look at the teams that might benefit the most from their Bracket Buster games this weekend we glossed over Drake and Butler. Unlike most of the other participants, the dueling Bulldogs look like sure bets for a trip to the big dance which makes their matchup, announced today, all the more interesting.
Butler's trip to the Sweet 16 last season made the country familiar with their style but there's probably a fair chunk of people who haven't watched them play with freshman Matt Howard. His inside play balances their always strong three point shooting and, since they rarely turn the ball over, makes them nearly impossible to stop on offense. Stopping Howard will be a key for Drake. They defend the perimeter quite well but aren't loaded with size inside. Offensively, they share a proclivity for the outside shot and the efficient approach with the other Bulldogs.
It isn't every year that two mid-majors appear to be top-four seeds and even rarer that we get to see them square off when they are in full form. While they may be playing the marquee game of the weekend, there will be others worth watching.
George Mason started January as a team looking for its identity. Losses to Georgia State and Delaware had them behind the eight-ball in the CAA and the preseason conference favorites were looking like a team with more flaws than assets. Things changed quickly, though. Will Thomas had a career game to stave off an upset in double overtime at Hofstra on Thursday and then Dre Smith shot his way into the record books during yesterday's 96-75 win at James Madison.
Smith made all 10 of his three-point tries to set a NCAA record for most tries without a miss. He finished with 34 points overall, a career-high which was only part of the reason to believe the Patriots are on the right track. They also outrebounded the Dukes by 14 and shot 65% for the game. Delaware lost for the second straight time yesterday, which leaves GMU in a three-way tie behind VCU in the Colonial.
The Rams won 78-68 at Old Dominion yesterday. They don't have the depth of the Patriots but they have two players in Eric Maynor and Jamal Shuler who can go off any night. They each scored 26 points against ODU and each finished with a double-double to boot. Shuler had 11 boards and Maynor dished 10 assists, an overwhelming two-man band.
Butler is off to their best start since 2002-03 after beating Wisconsin-Green Bay 74-65 and the most impressive thing is how they've gotten there. No one is surprised that Butler's a good team but their versatility has been most unexpected. They've won without A.J. Graves shooting the lights out and when he's less than his best. They've won with the expert hand of Mike Green guiding them and by following freshman Matt Howard and via blowout and nailbiter. The one consistent thread has been the way their three-point marksmanship has overcome their rebounding deficiencies.
You can strike that one from the list. The Bulldogs only made 3-of-19 from deep last night but outrebounded the Phoenix 38-30 and dominated the paint for their 14th victory. Howard got 12 of his 22 points from the foul line and Butler shot 41 overall to make up for their errant perimeter shooting. Green Bay's coach Tod Kowalczykstormed out of the interview room when he was asked if he wanted to comment on the 41-18 difference in foul shots but it was clear that the Bulldogs were too much for his defense to contend with.
Tonight's matchup between Butler and Southern Illinois had everything you look for in a trademarked bracket buster. There was no such marking on tonight's game, those aren't until February, but the outcome may make it hard for Southern Illinois to find their way into the NCAA tournament as an at-large team. A.J. Graves nailed a three from just inside the half-court line as time expired to give the Bulldogs a 57-55 win.
The loss drops SIU to 5-6 on the season and was incredibly frustrating. They complemented their defensive intensity with better than usual shooting, highlighted by Joshua Bone's best game of the year. Bone hit 7-of-10 from the floor, including five threes, and SIU shot a respectable 47.9% from the floor. That defensive intensity, which limited Butler to 15 field goals all night, had a downside, though. The Bulldogs went to the line 30 times and their 21 makes helped make up for their erratic shooting.
The fouls also kept Randal Falker on the bench for long stretches, another key factor in the loss. Falker had 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots but wasn't around long enough to tip the game his team's way.
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?
People go to Las Vegas to gamble and when you gamble there's always a chance you're gonna lose. Purdue is obviously not up for that kind of trip to Sin City so they got their losing out of the way while still in West Lafayette. Wofford beat the Boilermakers 69-66 in the second round of the Las Vegas Classic, a holiday bash that has its first two rounds played on campus sites as opposed to the Strip. The Terriers played from behind for most of the night but Purdue could never deliver a knockout blow, leaving Shane Nichols with a chance to play hero.
Nichols banged home a three to tie the score at 66 with 49 seconds left and then the Terriers forced a turnover and kept grabbing offensive rebounds until he hit a layup with two seconds to play. Purdue never got a shot up in that last minute and lost a game they really shouldn't have. Wofford's only other win against a D-1 team was a one-pointer against UNC-Greensboro and they turned the ball over 16 times last night. Since the Boilermakers play in the Big 10, though, that Greensboro win may still sit alone.
A major topic of discussion this past week was how mistreated the mid-majors have been in recent years by the NCAA tournament selection committee. Butler is definitely one of the best teams in the nation not from the so-called BCS conferences. The Bulldogs were slotted against LSU, a team from the most maligned BCS conference, the SEC. 
For the third straight season, the Butler Bulldogs are the regular season champions of the Horizon League. For fans and second-year head coach 
Ranking the rankings
Bracket Busters 2009
When 
George Mason started January as a team looking for its identity. Losses to Georgia State and Delaware had them behind the eight-ball in the CAA and the preseason conference favorites were looking like a team with more flaws than assets. Things changed quickly, though. 
Butler is off to their best start since 2002-03 after beating Wisconsin-Green Bay 74-65 and the most impressive thing is how they've gotten there. No one is surprised that Butler's a good team but their versatility has been most unexpected. They've won without 
Tonight's matchup between Butler and Southern Illinois had everything you look for in a trademarked bracket buster. There was no such marking on tonight's game, those aren't until February, but the outcome may make it hard for Southern Illinois to find their way into the NCAA tournament as an at-large team. 
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. 
People go to Las Vegas to gamble and when you gamble there's always a chance you're gonna lose. Purdue is obviously not up for that kind of trip to Sin City so they got their losing out of the way while still in West Lafayette. Wofford 
