The Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team represents

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study within six colleges in the arts, business, communic ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. The school's team currently competes in the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

. They play their home games at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

History

Butler competed as part of the Horizon League since its founding, and played basketball in other regional conferences before that, including the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

. In 2012 they left the Horizon League for the Atlantic 10 and the year after, moved to the Big East. Despite having played in a mid-major conference, Butler rose to national prominence in the late 1990s. They ranked in most media polls for all but a few weeks from the 2006–07 season to the 2011–12 season, and competed in the postseason every year since 1997, except for 2004,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. In the 2010 NCAA tournament, Butler was the National runner-up to

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, advancing to the National Championship Game after defeating Michigan State in the Final Four. With a total enrollment of only 4,500 students, Butler is the smallest school to play for a national championship since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.Neville, Susan S.,''Butler's Big Dance''. Indiana University Press, 2010 The Bulldogs also went to the championship game in the following NCAA tournament, falling to UConn after defeating VCU in the Final Four. With the victory over VCU, Butler became the first mid-major program to reach the championship game in successive seasons since

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, when seeding of the tournament began, and the only team from the state of Indiana to reach back-to-back championship games. The Bulldogs also won the National Championship in 1927, though it was before March Madness so it does not count for NCAA records. After spending one season in the Atlantic 10 Conference, Butler moved into the realigned basketball-only Big East Conference for the 2013–14 season. Their first season was mediocre, finishing 9th out of 10 teams with a 14–17 record, their first losing record since 2004–05. In their second season, despite being picked to finish 7th, the Bulldogs surprised many by finishing tied for second place in the conference. Butler finished the 2015–16 season in a tie for fourth place in Big East play with a record of 21–11, 10–8 in conference and receiving a bid to the NCAA tournament where they advanced to the Second Round.

Basketball community

Because of the school's history of basketball success, location in the heart of the land of " Hoosier Hysteria", and lack of a scholarship football program, the Butler University fan base is primarily basketball-oriented. Other athletics enjoy substantial followings of current students and alumni, but only basketball has garnered interest from a national audience. Two studies estimated that television, print, and online news coverage of Butler's 2010 and 2011 appearances in the NCAA tournament championship game resulted in additional publicity for the university worth about $1.2 billion. In an example of the " Flutie effect", applications rose by 41% after the 2010 appearance. In June 2011, ''

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'' ranked Butler as one of the top five colleges making use of social media. Specific to basketball, Butler's mascot, Butler Blue, the men's basketball program, head coach Thad Matta, and other coaches have university-endorsed

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accounts. Also, online communities Butler Hoops and /r/ButlerUniversity exist to facilitate discussion among fans. In recent years, the Butler program has also received national attention for its philosophy to the game, which it calls " The Butler Way". At its core, The Butler Way calls for complete commitment and exalts teamwork above self.

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

The Bulldogs have appeared in 16 NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 24–16. *Following the introduction of the "First Four" round in 2011, the Round of 64 and Round of 32 were referred to as the Second Round and Third Round, respectively, from 2011 to 2015. Then from 2016 moving forward, the Round 64 and Round of 32 will be called the First and Second rounds, as they were prior to 2011.

NIT results

The Bulldogs have appeared in ten National Invitation Tournaments. Their combined record is 5–10.

CBI results

The Bulldogs have appeared in one College Basketball Invitational. Their record is 2–1.

CBC results

Butler has appeared in the College Basketball Crown once. Their overall record is 1–1.

Bulldogs in the NBA

NBA & ABA players who attended Butler University * Bob Evans – drafted in the 4th round by the Indianapolis Olympians in the 1949 NBA draft * Gordon Hayward – drafted 9th overall by the Utah Jazz in the 2010 NBA draft. * Shelvin Mack – drafted in the 2nd round by the Washington Wizards in the 2011 NBA draft. * Sean McDermott – Signed as a free agent with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2020–21 * Kelan Martin – Signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2019–20. Signed with the Indiana Pacers for the 2020-2021 season. * Ralph O'Brien – drafted in the 6th round by the Indianapolis Olympians in the 1950 NBA draft * Billy Shepherd – drafted by Virginia Squires (ABA) in 1972 * Jerry Steiner – Signed as a free agent with the Indianapolis Kautskys in 1940–41 and the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons in 1946–47

Bulldogs in the NBA G League

* Kamar Baldwin, player in the NBA G League * Sean McDermott, player in the NBA G League

Bulldogs in international leagues

* Tyler Wideman, player in Nuova Pallacanestro Vigevano 1955 Serie A2 Italian Championship

Coaching history

Awards

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame * Harlan Page – 1962 * Tony Hinkle – 1965 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame * Tony Hinkle – 2006 * Harlan Page – 2006 National Coach of the Year * Todd Lickliter – 2007 All-Americans * H. W. Middlesworth – 1924 * Frank Baird – 1934 * Jerry Steiner – 1940 * Bob Dietz – 1941 * Ralph "Buckshot" O'Brien – 1950 * Jimmy Doyle – 1950 * Ted Guzek – 1957 * Billy Shepherd – 1971 * Chad Tucker* – 1985 * A. J. Graves* – 2007 * Mike Green* – 2008 * Matt Howard* – 2009 * Gordon Hayward* – 2010 * Kelan Martin* – 2018 (*) Denotes Honorable Mention Academic All-Americans * Chris Miskel – 1995*** * A. J. Graves – 2007*, 2008** * Drew Streicher – 2008*** * Matt Howard – 2009**, 2010*, 2011* * Gordon Hayward – 2010*** * Ronald Nored – 2012** * Andrew Smith – 2013** * Alex Barlow – 2015** (*) Denotes 1st team
(**) Denotes 2nd team
(***) Denotes 3rd team Academic All-American of the Year * Matt Howard – 2011 McDonald's All-American * Tyler Lewis – 2012 Senior Class Award * Alex Barlow – 2015 Big East Coach of the Year * Chris Holtmann – 2017 Horizon League Player of the Year * Darin Archibold – 1991 * Jon Neuhouser – 1997 * Rylan Hainje – 2002 * Brandon Polk – 2006 * Mike Green – 2008 * Matt Howard – 2009 * Gordon Hayward – 2010 Horizon League Coach of the Year * Joe Sexson – 1984 * Barry Collier – 1991, 1997, 1999, 2000 * Thad Matta – 2001 * Todd Lickliter – 2005, 2007 * Brad Stevens – 2009, 2010 Indiana Collegiate Conference Player of the Year * Tom Bowman – 1962 * Wayne Burris – 1977 * Tom Orner – 1978 Indiana Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year * Tony Hinkle – 1956, 1961, 1962 * George Theofanis – 1973, 1977 * Joe Sexson – 1978 MAC Most Valuable Player * Ralph "Buckshot" O'Brien – 1949 Information on the awards comes from the 2009–2010 media guide.

Record

*See List of Butler Bulldogs men's basketball seasons

Record vs. Big East opponents

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

: 0–9 * Creighton: 12–16 * DePaul: 20–7 * Georgetown: 13–11 * Marquette: 24–24 * Providence: 6–19 * Seton Hall: 10–13 * St. John's: 11–12 * Villanova: 7–16 * Xavier: 25–46 Source