The college basketball offseason is here, and we decided to have some fun over the next few months, ranking ALL 364 teams in D1. Number 84 is Butler basketball.
Before you say we’re crazy – or that all of this is up for debate, let’s go over the very intricate process of how we came to this conclusion. We took a very statistical approach – with the help of Chat GPT – taking into consideration everything from March Madness wins and finishes, to AP Poll appearances, to conference players of the year. And then, a good friend of ours, Scott Blanchard, took our approach to the MAX.
Click here to visit the FIRST article, which explains how the formula works!
Here’s the breakdown of Butler basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 2
- Final Fours: 2
- Elite Eights: 2
- Sweet 16s: 6
- NCAA wins: 24
- Bids: 16
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 13.3
- Bids per season: 0.13
- AP Polls: 135
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 1
- NBA players drafted & played: 4
- Conference Players of the Year: 7
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 13
- Conference tournament titles: 7
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Butler basketball
UMass might have had a really good chunk of seasons, but Butler one-ups them in that category and also in this series, at one spot higher!
The Bulldogs made some serious college basketball history, going to the National Championship game in 2010 and 2011, as a part of the Horizon League.
Both runs were wild, but taking a step back a few years further, the Bulldogs got to that place thanks to hiring Brad Stevens as the head coach. The young, great mind of the game led them to a 30-4 record in year one in 2007-08 and proceeded to go 166-49 in his six seasons. Stevens led the Bulldogs to four Horizon League regular season titles and five NCAA Tournaments, appearing twice as an at-large bid.
The first run to the finals was unprecedented. Butler was a 5-seed, but no one expected them to knock off the quality of teams they did in 1-seed Syracuse, 2-seed Kansas State, and 5-seed Michigan State. They only lost by two in the chip to Duke, with Gordon Hayward’s halfcourt heave falling inches from what would have been the greatest shot in hoops history.
While most mid-majors would probably take that run and be good with it forever, Butler wasn’t any mid-major. They went back to the title game as an 8-seed with a target on their back the very next season. And this time it was without Hayward – with Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard leading the way. They ultimately fell to UConn, 53-41, once again one win short of being champions of the college basketball world.
For Butler as a whole, this era is mostly why they made it this high in our series. But there have been some other notable moments. They first made it to the NCAA Tournament in 1962 under head coach Tony Hinkle, after whom the program’s home arena is named. Hinkle was 558-394 as Butler’s coach from 1926-42 and 1945-70, one of the longest runs for a school at a single school in history.
After Hinkle, the program had some very rough seasons, but did have some success under Barry Collier, Thad Matta, and Todd Lickliter, going dancing in 1997, 1998, 2000, 20001, 2003, and 2007. Lickliter even led them to the Sweet 16 in ’03 as a 12-seed, also taking them there in 2007, their year before Stevens showed up.
The success under Stevens led Butler to the Atlantic 10 in 2012-13 (Stevens’ last season), and then the Big East the following season. While they won 27 games in year one of the A-10, success in the Big East has been more spaced out. Chris Holtmann and LaVall Jordan combined for four straight tourney bids from 2015-18, with a Sweet 16 in 2018. But Jordan wouldn’t get them back, and Thad Matta wasn’t able to even reach 20 wins in any of his four seasons in his second stint.
Ronald Nored, who played point guard in both runs to the natty, steps in as the new head coach this season. The program has fallen off over the last handful of seasons, but basketball is still its main sport, so with the right coaching, you have to think they’ll find success once again. Probably no one will reach the level of stardom Stevens did, but one can hope! When Butler basketball is good, college basketball is better!