By Paul Casey Gotham
By the time last Wednesday’s deluge of tweets subsided, hunch became reality. The Butler Bulldogs officially announced their membership into the Atlantic 10 starting with the 2013-14 season.
Pundits abandoned the 140-character platform and turned to full-length analysis. Some suggested that the Butler charm “will be fundamentally altered.” Others pointed out a need for an upgrade to facilities.
On the other hand, SI’s Luke Winn showed that Butler can hang with the increased competition provided by the Atlantic 10. Of course, Butler’s offensive efficiency might get a tad more resistance in the A-10.
If nothing else, the marriage of Butler and the Atlantic 10, called a “great fit” by Xavier University President and Chair of the Atlantic 10 Council of Presidents, Father Michael J. Graham, makes sense. It makes so much sense that one might wonder why it hadn’t happened sooner.
After winning 20 games this past season, the two-time national runner-up found itself on the outside looking in when the NCAA compiled its guest list. Somehow, the Horizon League was deemed not worthy while conferences like the Pac-12 received multiple bids. (Keep in mind that Cleveland State (a 26-game winner last season) beat Wake Forest (when the Demon Deacons still had a shred of relevance) in the opening round of the 08-09 tournament. All told, Horizon League teams went 11-3 in the NCAA Tournament from 2009-11. In fact, Horizon League teams won NCAA Tournament games every year from 2005-2011.
Yet no at-large bid went its way this year.
Butler’s decision, in effect, was made for it.
When the Bulldogs begin play in the A-10, they will reunite with five former conference rivals. Butler and Xavier were charter members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (originally known as the Midwestern City Conference) . The Musketeers competed in the MCC from 1979-80 until 1994-95. St. Louis joined the league in 1982 and stayed through the 1990-91 season. Dayton (1988-93), Duquesne (1992-93) and La Salle (1992-95) all followed from there.
At a time when the monetary lure of pigskin dictates conference realignments, Butler chose to make a move with basketball in mind. The Bulldogs add the legendary Hinkle Fieldhouse to a conference where the venues consist of the hallowed hardwoods of Rose Hill and the Palestra, the UD Arena, site of the most NCAA Tournament games and the Cintas and Reilly Centers, widely considered as two of the toughest arenas in the country. Butler will create new rivalries with Richmond, Rhode Island, St. Joseph’s and St. Bonaventure – campuses where basketball is king.
The A-10 will also continue discussions on the topic of increasing the number conference games. Something that will only work to heighten these battles.
Butler joins a conference with 41 at-large bids in the past 20 years. The A-10 has earned multiple at-large in each of the last five seasons.
Some might suggest Butler is in over their heads. If they are, it is where they belong – in a conference building the competition of basketball.
Butler’s move brings the past into the present, and paves the way for a bright future in the Atlantic 10.
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