Butler-ODU kicks off slate of games in D.C.
The NCAA selection committee is down on Cinderella. How else to explain the match-up of No. 8 Old Dominion and No. 9 Butler, Thursday at Verizon Center?
Normally, these are mid-majors for fans to pull for as they take on teams from power conferences. But that won’t happen until Saturday, when the winner is likely to face No. 1 seed Pittsburgh.
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Other games at Verizon on Thursday include Pitt vs. No. 16 UNC-Ashville, No. 3 Connnecticut vs. No. 14 Bucknell, and No. 6 Cincinnati vs. No. 11 Missouri.
ODU (27-6), champion of the Colonial Athletic Association, and Butler (23-9), champion of the Horizon League, carry dueling nine-game winning streaks into the tournament.
| Up Next |
| No. 8 Butler vs. No. 9 Old Dominion |
| When » Thursday, 12:40 p.m. |
| Where » Verizon Center |
| TV » truTV |
What is the difference in their resumes? History. Last year, Butler won five NCAA tournament games en route to the finals. In 10 tournament appearances, ODU has won a total of three games and never advanced past the second round.
“[Butler] was a good team last year,” ODU forward Frank Hassell said. “But last year is last year.”
Not that last season was shameful for ODU. The Monarchs, seeded No. 11, upset No. 6 Notre Dame, 51-50, then had the lead on No. 3 Baylor with less than 7 minutes left before falling, 76-68.
After they were eliminated, the Monarchs rooted for the Bulldogs, anxious to see a contemporary make a mid-major statement.
“I definitely wanted to see Butler take down Duke,” ODU senior Keyon Carter said. “They just showed the whole country that the bar between the mid-majors and elite teams is shrinking.”
ODU says forget last year. Butler is not so quick to dismiss the past. The Bulldogs believe they have drawn strength from their 2010 run, which helped them through a sometimes-trying season, including four losses in five Horizon League games.
“How many times do you see teams split apart or fingers being pointed after you make a run like that and things don’t go perfectly the next year,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “Our guys handled themselves as well during the tough times as they did during the very best of times.”
Thursday’s game with ODU is an intriguing match-up of the power of Old Dominion, which plays a zone, versus the finesse of Butler, which prefers man-to-man. The Monarchs lead the nation in rebounding margin (12.2 pg). Butler counters with 3-point marksmanship (36.1 percent).
But most of the questions fielded by Butler and ODU on Wednesday concerned their similarities as a “mid-major,” a label that doesn’t always sit well with the elites of the classification.
“Everyone wants to talk about the difference between major and mid-major,” ODU junior Chris Cooper said. “Butler showed the world there is no difference.”
