All of College Basketball Nation and the fans who reside there know very well who the Butler Bulldogs are. This is a team that has been on the national consciousness to one extent or another ever since Mike Miller sank the then-12 seed’s hopes of an upset in the 2000 NCAA Tournament. I had Butler in the upset that year and have still yet to really get over that ridiculous ending (no charge there on Miller?).

Since that year, the Bulldogs have won at least a share of four Horizon conference titles and seem to have their best team in ages this season. Can they get even further than the Sweet 16 this March? Is A.J. Graves actually underrated? Let’s give it all a closer look.

Nowadays, the Bulldogs are a program that has no fear in playing pretty much anybody, anywhere. They rolled to a win in the Great Alaska Shootout this year and defeated Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee and Gonzaga en route to last year’s NIT Tip-Off title. As for their Tournament play: the fifth-seeded Bulldogs defeated Old Dominion and Maryland on the first weekend, then lost a heartbreaking game (65-57) to eventual champion Florida in the Sweet 16.

They are a team that’s much more developed, nationally recognized and have lifted themselves to near-Gonzaga status. The Bulldogs are currently 7-0 and have defeated (of note) Michigan, Virginia Tech, Texas Tech and Ohio State this season. Oh yeah, and those are their last four consecutive victories.

Currently sitting at No. 13 in this week’s AP Poll led by sharpshooter AJ Graves (yes, that’s him in the photo), Butler will sneak up on exactly zero opponents this season. Forwards Pete Campbell and Matt Howard along with guard Mike Green all average double figures in the scoring department, while the team is average 77 percent from the foul line, 44 percent from behind the 3 line, and 48 percent from the field. To boot, they only average just over nine turnovers per game.

Butler’s ability to run teams ragged and keep those teams from being able to establish their own pace is really what makes Butler go. Don’t expect them to drop more than four games this year, and if that turns out to be the case, the Bulldogs again will be looking at a 5 seed—at worst—and that’s a nice way to settle into the office for first-year coach Brad Stevens.

From a major-conference foe perspective, the Florida State game on December 15 is the only one left on Butler’s slate, but they’ll have a BracketBusters in February and a few other mid-major (though they seem to have risen above that tag for the immediate future) matchups along the way.

Their one weakness? It’s the one that tends to make many smaller schools vulnerable: They are not a deep team. Butler only consistently runs seven (maybe eight) guys out onto the court every game. In order for them to maintain their Top 25 status, they’ll have to keep themselves out of foul trouble and continue to not allow other teams to take advantage of their lack of size (their tallest player stands 6′8″).

Here’s Butler’s marquee games for the rest of the regular season:

• Florida State, December 15.
• Bradley, December 19.
• @ Southern Illinois, December 28.
• Valparaiso, January 5.
• @ Valparaiso, February 5.
• BracketBusters home game, February 22 or 23.

Monday, December 3rd, 2007 @ 6:14 pm Team Spotlights
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