The Dawn of a New Season
As hope springs eternal for another fabulous run to the Final Four, the Horizon League—nestled principally in the Midwest—officially opens its regular season out west in the desert Monday night with Valparaiso as its representative. In Tucson. Against #16 Arizona. Yikes. And, for the Crusaders, it’s a game without Brandon Wood, who has taken his 17 ppg average to Michigan State.
But fear not. Even a recent buzzer beater loss by Butler to Division II Northern State, fails to dampen what could be another fun year for the conference.
For openers, there are several games between the Horizon League and teams from the Power Six conferences (Big Ten, Big East, Pac 12, Big 12, SEC and ACC) as well as ranked teams, and not all of those matchups are in enemy territory:
· Sat, Nov. 19: Butler, last season’s NCAA championship runner-up, will host 8th ranked Louisville in the cathedral of college basketball, Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Cardinals are picked third in the Big East Conference.
· Mon, Nov. 21: Wright State plays 10th rated Florida in Tampa in the Global Sports Shootout. The Gators finished 29-8 last year, losing to Butler in the NCAA regional finals.
· Mon, Dec. 5: Detroit hosts St. John’s, which received votes in the first ESPN/USA today poll of the season. The Titans’ home court will be named that evening after ESPN’s Dick Vitale, who’s a former Detroit coach.
· Wed, Dec. 7: Butler is home to #15 Xavier. Two years ago, the teams played to a one-point finish at Hinkle.
· Tue, Dec. 13: Milwaukee welcomes #14 Wisconsin. No Jon Leuer this season for the Badgers, but with its history, no problem.
· Wed, Dec. 14: Wright State is at home to #22 Cincinnati. UC head coach Mick Cronin has brought the program back from the dead.
· Sat, Dec. 17: Butler plays Purdue, a top 25 vote-getter, in the Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis. Purdue’s Rob Hummel is back, he’s healthy and scored 18 points in 15 minutes in his first game in 20 months. That same day, Detroit hosts Mississippi State, another team which received votes.
And, if those games don’t move you, there’s Horizon League conference play. And, last year, what a conference! The league race ended with a three way tie for first between Milwaukee, Butler and Cleveland State. And it would have been a four way grouping, if Valparaiso didn’t “stub its toe” in the final week of the regular season.
This year’s media predictions have Butler and Detroit running 1-2. So, the conference, with some marketing brilliance, has decided to headline them in a showdown in Indianapolis Saturday, Feb. 4, just a few miles from the NFL’s biggest game of the season a day later, the Super Bowl, at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Two weeks later, the Sears’ Bracketbusters will feature all ten Horizon League teams playing comparable opponents across the country in three days of games. Tournament resumes do seem to improve with a win during this particular weekend.
When the regular season ends, the conference tournament arrives, with its unique postseason format now adopted by other leagues. The regular season champion gets the top seed and a chance to host the title game, but consider this: five of the last ten tourney champs have not been #1 seeds.
And after the league tournament, the Big Dance arrives on the heels of spring. And, you can count lately on four absolutes in springtime: death, taxes, the Horizon League will beat someone in the first round of the NCAA tournament and a Butler Bulldog will be leaving school early to turn pro.
Enjoy the season.
