Cinderella no more: #6 seeded Butler begins last NCAA Tournament as a mid-major against #11 seeded Bucknell

Butler seniors Andrew Smith and Chase Stigall warm up at Rupp Arena on Wednesday afternoon. Both Stigall and Smith own the most NCAA Tournament experience for the Bulldogs as members of the 2010 and 2011 teams that made it to the National Title game. (photo by Fox 59)

Gone are the days of shocking the world. Gone are the days of taking teams by surprise. Gone are the days of trying to get a glass slipper to fit.

After making its official announcement to join the “new” Big East on Wednesday afternoon, the Butler Bulldogs (26-8) completed an evolution three years in the making; transforming from mid-major to member of a Power Conference.

The Bulldogs will carry all of this news in the back of their mind, as it prepares for this afternoon’s 2nd round match up. Unlike the norm of Bulldogs basketball over the last few years in the NCAA Tournament, it is the favorite as a #6 seed against the #11 seeded Bison of Bucknell.

However, despite the role change, Butler has genuine respect towards this Bucknell team, due in part to the fact that they understand playing as Cinderella. With that past experience, they must do what so many teams failed to achieve when it was the underdog”: win.

Finishing 12-2 in the Patriot conference along with capturing the conference title and automatic bid to the dance, the Bison (28-5) run their offense through its 6-11 senior center Mike Muscala, who averages 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks per contest.

Combined with Muscala, the Bison consists of three other starters,(Cameron Ayers, Bryson Johnson and Joe WIllman,) who have scored 1,745 points in the Bucknell uniform this season.

Defensively, the Bulldogs will need a similar outing to its upset victory over Indiana in December, when 6-11 senior center Andrew Smith outplayed and shut down the Hoosiers Center piece, Cody Zeller.

On the other side of the basketball the Bulldogs will need another strong performance from Rotnei Clarke, who averages 41.2 percent from three point range, but has also added off the dribble jump shots and off-screen maneuverability to his game this season. The team is 10-1 when he scores 20 or above.

While Clarke’s sharpshooting is key, the heart of the Bulldogs offense runs through sophomore guard Roosevelt Jones. Jones enters the contest averaging 10.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. Frequently throughout the year teams were so focused on guarding Clarke and freshman Kellen Dunham,(the bulldogs top three point shooters,) they would place their top defenders on them, leaving the 6-4 227 lbs Jones in a favorable match up.

Lastly, Butler will need another strong outing from their top power forwards to avoid an upset. junior Khyle Marshall and sophomore Kameron Woods have an average of 9.8 and 10.4 points respectively over the last five games. The Bulldogs are 16-1 when Marshall and 4-0 when Woods scores in double figures.

The final NCAA Tournament for Butler in a “mid-major” conference, the first and last tournament for senior Rotnei Clarke, and the last tournament for live animal mascot Blue II begin this afternoon.

Whether or not these historic facts will end in hoisting a trophy high in Atlanta, will all depend on how far down the Road to the Final Four they can go.

Butler has been there before, but can they do it again?

That remains to be seen.

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