After last year's amazing run at an NCAA title, the Butler Bulldogs hope to repeat their previous tournament success as they face Wisconsin tonight. Susan Neville, a Butler professor and author of Butler's Big Dance, says that the Bulldogs' performance in the NCAA tournament is "particularly sweet this year because the team came alive late in the season, winning the Horizon League championship and then winning that amazing game against the number 1 seed Pitt."
"Butler has been a bracket buster for several years now, and it says something about the coaching and the program that we've made it this far again."
While the campus is excited about the Bulldogs' making it to the Sweet 16 again, Neville says the mood isn't quite as surreal as it was between last year's Sweet 16 game and the Final Four.
"The media descended and the alums came back and all the trees were blooming and we watched the world watching the campus. We were in a world we'd never been in before, and it was giddy. I'm not sure anything will ever feel quite like that one particular week felt."
But the level of excitement may surpass "surreal" if Butler can take home the title this year. Neville is doing her part to make sure the Bulldogs stay contenders for the NCAA championship. For tonight's game, she is repeating the same rituals as she did for Butler's previous Sweet 16 appearance.
"We're having the same friends over to our house that we had last year. We'll have the same food. We'll sit in the same spots in the family room. ...Friday morning we'll all get up and go to work. Unless I drive down to New Orleans for the weekend! And that's a distinct possibility."