Note: Horizon League Senior Associate Commissioner for External Affairs Bill Benner is on site in Washington, D.C., for Butler's trip to the NCAA Tournament. Today, he writes on events at the Bulldogs' practice.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The last time Butler had an open practice for an NCAA tournament game, 30,000 people --most of them Bulldog fans -- showed up.
Wednesday at the Verizon Center, not so many. Closer to 300 hundred than 30,000. And of those, maybe two dozen were there to watch the Bulldogs.
Of course, last April, the occasion was the open practice at Lucas Oil Stadium -- just sixmiles from the Butler campus -- when the Bulldogs became America’s team and crashed the Final Four and then the national championship game, where they narrowly lost to heavily favored Duke.
This time it’s the day before their 2011second-round tournament appearance, where the eighth-seeded Horizon League champions will play ninth-seeded Old Dominion from the Colonial Athletic Association.
It was difficult for the Bulldogs to place their focus on the Monarchs. That’s because the media peppered them and coach Brad Stevens with questions about last year’s amazing tournament run.
The Butler Story -- and the Butler Way -- hasn’t lost its legs. Even Old Dominion takes inspiration from the 2010 Bulldogs.
“Everyone wants to talk about the difference between the major (programs) and the mid-major,” said ODU junior forward Chris Cooper. “Butler showed the world there is no difference."
“I can’t lie, we stick together, us so-called ‘mid-majors,’ “ said Monarch guard Darius James. “But tomorrow is a whole new year and a whole new tournament."
No one knows better than the Bulldogs themselves. Through a grueling Horizon League season in which they battled back to claim a share of the regular-season title, then beat fellow co-champs Cleveland State and Milwaukee to claim the tournament championship, Butler was the date circled on every opponent’s calendar.
That experience, they hope, has prepared them to take the NCAA stage again, especially in front of a Verizon Center crowd expected to be filled with Monarch fans. Their campus is Norfolk, Va., is just a few hours away.
“We got our location,” said ODU’s Frank Hassell.
“There were a lot of times (this season) when we go into some places and there’s maybe even a higher level of excitement, and that’s great,” said Butler senior Matt Howard. “I think it prepares us for situations like this where we can get in a tough environment and play through it."
Stevens told reporters that this year hasn’t been about living up to last year, “but more in terms of living up to the standards of our program,” he said. “And the standards of our program are what I consider the highest of expectations."
The expectations for the ODU game are that it will be a tough, demanding, physical game. The Monarchs are the nation’s best rebounding team. Butler turned its season around by returning to dogged determination -- pun intended -- on the defensive end.
Easy baskets will be hard to come by.
“They’re very physical and athletic,” said Butler junior Shelvin Mack.
It may be a reprise of the low-scoring affair when the two teams met in their 2007 NCAA tournament opener. Butler, trailing 20-19 at halftime, ground out a 57-46 victory.
ODDS AND ENDS: Old Dominion (27-6) has more wins than any opening-round opponent Butler has faced … Matt Howard will be making his 10th NCAA tournament game start … Butler is averaging 7.4 three-pointers per game during its nine-game winning streak … ODU also has won nine in a row … The Monarchs are a veteran club with four seniors and two juniors in their top six … ODU also has been in postseason play seven straight years … The Monarchs defeated Cleveland State last month, 74-63, in a BracketBuster matchup … ODU Coach Blaine Taylor is the school’s all-time winningest coach with 215 victories over 10 seasons … Last year in the opening round, the Monarchs took out Notre Dame.
