Butler has a knack for proving people wrong. Plain and simple. Who would have thought this year would culminate in a second National Championship Game appearance? Who would have thought they would survive after losing Gordon Hayward to the Utah Jazz in the offseason? Who didn't write the Bulldogs off???
The Butler Bulldogs themselves.
The Bulldogs started off rough before their conference schedule kicked off, losing to both Louisville and Duke. Conference play had its bumps in the road as well, at one point losing 3 consecutive games. At a time like that most teams would cash in their chips, but Stevens and his team pulled themselves together rattling off 9 consecutive wins to earn the Horizon League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
As an 8 seed, the Bulldogs ran into trouble in the opening round as they were pushed to the brink by Old Dominion. If not for Matt Howard's last second layup, no one would have been talking about the Bulldogs in April. Another close game awaited them against Pittsburgh as Matt Howard once again provided the heroics by calmly sinking his free throws in the closing seconds to ice the game. A Sweet Sixteen matchup with Wisconsin saw Butler finally control a game, minus the commendable Wisconsin run toward the end of the second half. An exciting overtime win over the Florida Gators and a Final Four victory against the upstart VCU Rams culminated in an unthinkable return to the National Championship Game.
The poor shooting first half had many wondering, just how did Butler have the lead going into half? Neither team played especially well enough to win that half and it was more of the same for the Bulldogs in the second as they set a National Championship Game record for lowest field goal percentage ever recorded. A true nightmare. It wasn't as though they were taking bad shots, there was simply a lid covering the basket that expelled anything thrown its way. A truly saddening lose for Butler fans around the country.
Be proud Bulldog fans, as Coach Stevens said its all about the journey, and your team experienced one of the greatest journeys in college basketball history.
Congratulations Butler.
Key Losses, Returners, Recruits, Roster, and Predictions after the jump.
