While Butler heads back to Hinkle Fieldhouse without a trophy, in presumably its first and only season in the Atlantic 10, they do have one thing in pocket to look forward to:A near-perfect résumé for the NCAA Tournament.
Fortunately, because of the resume, there won’t be any sweat of missing the cut like so many Bubble Teams are going through today.
Butler will be in the field.
There’s no question to that at all.
The real mystery is where will they be seeded?
At first glance, a casual basketball fan would look at the 8 losses Butler has suffered this year.
Then they would dig deeper and see that one loss was to Illinois, and the other seven were to teams in the Atlantic 10.
Assuming this is a casual fan, they would laugh at losses to names like “La Salle”, “Charlotte”, and “Saint Louis”, but then understand a loss to Xavier to start the season.
After all that, their final decision would probably be a #7 or #8 seed.
It’s a good thing we leave this decisions to the professionals.
Butler deserves no worse than a #6 seed in the tournament, and honestly should be a #5.
Why?
Of the eight losses this year, three came against Final Four “dark horse” in your brackets,(I’m not kidding, take that hint to heart and thank me later), Saint Louis.
This Billiken team, led by head coach Jim Crews, is the closest comparison to the 2010 Butler Bulldogs Run to the Title Game that you will find, (other than..well..Butler).
Another pair of games that are filed underneath the category “Understandable Losses” are Xavier and Charlotte.
Xavier was a loss in Butler’s 1st real game of the season, (sorry Elon), and Charlotte was a game Butler was DOMINATED inside, because they were without star center Andrew Smith.
Along with those two, Illinois also defeated the Bulldogs early in the year, at the Maui Invitational Title game.
So what’s left?
Oh that’s right! A buzzer beater loss to current bubble team La Salle, (which was on the road by the way), and a “havoc” wreaking onslaught at VCU.
Butler was able to void the La Salle defeat by extracting revenge on the Explorers in the A10 quarter finals, but missed out on a chance at redemption against VCU in the Title game, courtesy of yet another strong win for Saint Louis in yesterday’s Semi-Final.
Well there are the losses; the reason people will point to Butler not deserving anything higher than a #7 seed.
However before you write “#7 Butler” in black Sharpie on your brackets, take a look at why #5, (no worse than #6), is more deserving for the Bulldogs.
25 wins. 11-5 in A10. 14-3 Non-Conference.
And that’s just at first glance.
Under the layers, and there in lies wins against Marquette, North Carolina, and then-#1 Indiana.
Plus a victory over current #1 Gonzaga, WITHOUT top 50 finalist for the Naismith Award, and star sharpshooter Rotnei Clarke.
And then there’s the numbers factor:
Butler
Strength of Schedule: 29
RPI: 19
Record Last 12: 8-4
Losses VS Sub 50 RPI: 2
Near-perfect.
For everything they’ve gone through,(injuries, first and only year in a conference against new, foreign opponents, and a major target on their back to boot,) the Bulldogs stayed consistent and put together a résumé worthy of a #5 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Nevertheless, no matter where Butler is seeded, it is always a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the tourney.
Still, everything depends on the draw, and that fate rests in the hands of Selection Committee.
All they can do now is sit and wait.
Follow on Twitter: @theJCook