At a glance
League-champion Butler (32-4) has become the first Horizon League team to advance to the NCAA Final Four and will face Michigan State in the national semifinals on Saturday, April 3, at 6:07 p.m. ET at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The fifth-seed Bulldogs improved their winning streak to 24 games with a 63-56 victory over second-seed Kansas State in the Regional final Saturday after knocking off top-seed Syracuse 63-59 in the semifinals.
The winner of the Butler-Michigan State game will face the winner of the West Virginia-Duke game in the national championship game on Monday, April 5, at 9:21 p.m. ET.
National coverage
All games in the NCAA Championship are televised by CBS. The Final Four games will feature Jim Nantz on play-by-play and Clark Kellogg with analysis. The CBS studio team includes Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony and Seth Davis.
Final Four a Horizon League first ...
Butler's trip to the Final Four is the first in the 31-year history of the Horizon League. In fact, Butler's victory in the Regional semifinals last week marked the first time a League team had advanced to the Regional finals.
... but Sweet 16's a frequent occurrence
With Butler's first- and second-round wins, there was a Horizon League team in the NCAA Sweet 16 for the fourth time in the past eight seasons (Butler 2003, `07, `10 and Milwaukee `05). League teams have won at least one game in the NCAAs each of the last six seasons and nine times in the past 12 years. All told, League squads own 13 NCAA Tournament wins in the eight years, despite receiving only 11 bids in that span. (See page 17 for complete NCAA results.)
Last six years put League in elite company
The Horizon League is one of only seven of the 31 Division I conferences to win a first-round game in the NCAA Tournament each of the past six seasons. The other six are the BCS conferences -- ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-10 and SEC.
In the RPI
According to The RPI Report, Butler ranks seventh in RPI through Sunday's games, Wright State was 77 and Green Bay 99th.
Five 20-win teams a League first ...
The Horizon League boasts five 20-win teams in a season for the first time in its 31-year history:
Butler - 32 (NCAA)
Green Bay - 22 (CBI)
Wright State - 20
Milwaukee - 20
Detroit - 20
At least four League teams have won 20 games each of the last three seasons.
... and one of a selected few conferences
Through Sunday's games, the Horizon League was one of only eight of the 31 Division I conferences to have five or more 20-win teams, and the ONLY one with 10 or fewer members:
ACC (12) - 9
Big East (16) - 9
Big 12 (12) - 7
Big Ten (11) - 7
Atlantic-10 (14) - 6
Conference USA (12) - 6
SEC (12) - 6
Horizon League (10) - 5
Previous national champions
Although no team has won the national championship under the Horizon League banner, three current men's basketball programs have national titles to their credit -- Butler won the Helms Foundation title in 1929, Loyola took home the NCAA crown in 1963 with a victory over Cincinnati, and Wright State captured the 1983 Division II national championship prior to moving to Division I in 1987-88.
League vs. NCAA tourney comparison
To illustrate just how competitive the Horizon League was this season, consider that Butler has won its four NCAA Tournament games by 7.8 points per game and won its nine League road games by 10.7. That is an average of just under three points or one possession per game. Only two of Butler's nine League road wins were by more than 12 points.
Tags: Butler - Men's Basketball
