Butler/Zags

[Kahns Krazy]

How is there not a thread about that game? What an ending! When we finish the A-10 season 17-0, Butler is going to be two very quality wins when the committee is talking about our seeding.

[danaandvictory]

It was a great game.

As with anything else Butler-related, the sports media has reacted to it with restraint. I think Jeff Goodman credits Brad Stevens for teaching him to love again. Andy Katz was referring to the special and treasured place in every basketball fan's heart that Gonzaga and Butler should hold. Butler is like Cialis for these hacks.

I enjoy Butler and wish them well but my God do they make people say some stupid things.

[xudash]

How is there not a thread about that game? What an ending! When we finish the A-10 season 17-0, Butler is going to be two very quality wins when the committee is talking about our seeding.

I only caught the very end of it.

Obviously, it must have been going back and forth all game long. What was the largest lead either team had?

Understanding that it's mainly about "just win baby", it was very obvious that Gonzaga lost a game that they otherwise had in the bag at the end.

I do have one other observation, and it's about Hinkle Fieldhouse. I respect the tradition of the building. I respect that it is a National Historical Landmark. But it is cheesy and old. All of those billboard/placards that line the place look terrible. It makes the place look like a flea market, which is hard for me to opine on, because I've never been to a flea market. I guess that's what I would expect to see if I went to one. Their floor is over-the-top hideous. I'm sure it will look great once the renovation takes place, assuming they ever do put the money together for that. I wouldn't trade the Cintas Center for that place for anything. It just looks dank and dusty.

[GoMuskies]

I went to a KU game at Allen Fieldhouse last year, and when I got back to work the next day one of the KU blowhards here asked me how I liked it. I told him it reminded me of going to a game at Hinkle. I don't think he's talked to me since.

[GuyFawkes38]

Really isn't that impressive of a win. Playing at home, Butler should have won with relative ease.

IMHO, strong possibility for a one and out this year for the bulldogs. I know that would really disappoint the passionate Butler fans on this board and the college basketball community as a whole, but that's just how I see it.

[Masterofreality]

It was a great game to watch and was a fine show.

I'm not as anti-Butler as others, although I was no fan of that cheap shot artist Hayward. I'm glad they beat the cute Zaggies.

The Zags continue to stick in my craw. I still can't believe that we've lost to them 3 straight times. Gonzaga has been to 1, that's ONE Elite 8 and 4 Sweet 16's. Xavier has more of each. Neither team has made a Final 4 but Gonzaga still just seems to have this status...even when they are not that good.

I know that they're better than XU this year and I'm glad we're no playing them, this year but I would like to start up a series with them again.

[xubrew]

It was a great game to watch and was a fine show.

I'm not as anti-Butler as others, although I was no fan of that cheap shot artist Hayward. I'm glad they beat the cute Zaggies.

The Zags continue to stick in my craw. I still can't believe that we've lost to them 3 straight times. Gonzaga has been to 1, that's ONE Elite 8 and 4 Sweet 16's. Xavier has more of each. Neither team has made a Final 4 but Gonzaga still just seems to have this status...even when they are not that good.

I know that they're better than XU this year and I'm glad we're no playing them, this year but I would like to start up a series with them again.

That's an interesting point. I have some theories as to why. Well, they're more like hypothesis than theories. The truth is I don't know why the spotlight on Gonzaga is as bright as it is. I'm not saying they arent extremely accomplished. They are. I just don't know why it's brighter for them than for other programs that have done just as much, if not more.

-Gonzaga's Elite Eight run in 1999 was a great story. Any non-major program who makes a deep tournament run is a great story. Theirs was the first to occur in the DirecTV Mega March Madness era. So, literally, the whole country could watch. LMU had a great run and a great story as well, but theirs occurred at a time when four games were being played at once, and the country was at the mercy of whichever game CBS decided to air. Gonzaga did it when eveyrone could watch. Does that have something to do with it?? I dunno. Just an idea.

-The next year, they did it again. Or at the very least they got to the Sweet Sixteen and played in some showcase OOC games that got them attention.

-The next year, they were in the Sweet Sixteen....again.

-The next year, they lost in the first round, but by that point they were regulars in the rankings, and ESPN had signed a deal with the WCC, so they were on more and more.


George Mason had a good run, but it was short lived. Davidson had a good year and a half, but didn't stay. They were definitely the top stories of their day, but they didn't stay the top story. Gonzaga is, though. Maybe it's because everyone remembers how much fun that Elite Eight run was, and it's fun to watch them keep playing and beating good teams. I don't know. It's just an idea. The media does like them....a lot. I know what. I'm not sure as to why. To their credit, they continue to play the kind of showcase out of conference games that keep them on TV and make them desitination programming for college hoops fans.

[muskiefan82]

That's an interesting point. I have some theories as to why. Well, they're more like hypothesis than theories. The truth is I don't know why the spotlight on Gonzaga is as bright as it is. I'm not saying they arent extremely accomplished. They are. I just don't know why it's brighter for them than for other programs that have done just as much, if not more.

-Gonzaga's Elite Eight run in 1999 was a great story. Any non-major program who makes a deep tournament run is a great story. Theirs was the first to occur in the DirecTV Mega March Madness era. So, literally, the whole country could watch. LMU had a great run and a great story as well, but theirs occurred at a time when four games were being played at once, and the country was at the mercy of whichever game CBS decided to air. Gonzaga did it when eveyrone could watch. Does that have something to do with it?? I dunno. Just an idea.

-The next year, they did it again. Or at the very least they got to the Sweet Sixteen and played in some showcase OOC games that got them attention.

-The next year, they were in the Sweet Sixteen....again.

-The next year, they lost in the first round, but by that point they were regulars in the rankings, and ESPN had signed a deal with the WCC, so they were on more and more.


George Mason had a good run, but it was short lived. Davidson had a good year and a half, but didn't stay. They were definitely the top stories of their day, but they didn't stay the top story. Gonzaga is, though. Maybe it's because everyone remembers how much fun that Elite Eight run was, and it's fun to watch them keep playing and beating good teams. I don't know. It's just an idea. The media does like them....a lot. I know what. I'm not sure as to why. To their credit, they continue to play the kind of showcase out of conference games that keep them on TV and make them desitination programming for college hoops fans.

What everyone needs to realize is that they talk about Butler and Gonzaga because it is unusual. It is commonplace for Xavier to be in the tourney and win some games. It just isn't noteworthy anymore because it happens often.

[xubrew]

What everyone needs to realize is that they talk about Butler and Gonzaga because it is unusual. It is commonplace for Xavier to be in the tourney and win some games. It just isn't noteworthy anymore because it happens often.

I'm pretty sure Butler has more tournament wins than we do in the past decade, and has spent more time in the rankings than we have over the last six or seven years.

For whatever reason we don't attracked the media the way flypaper attracks flies. Those teams do. I personally don't have a huge problem with that because I don't pay much attention to the media, and don't really spend a lot of time thinking about why they're attracked to what they're attraced to. They like Butler and Gonzaga, though.

[GuyFawkes38]

I have no problem with Butler receiving a lot of media attention. Making back to back national championships is impressive. I'm of the opinion that Butler was very lucky to do so and that they likely won't make another Final Four in the next 30 years. But that's irrelevant. It's impressive and deserves media attention.

Gonzaga is a different story. I think one of things that's important to appreciate is that the college basketball scene west of the Rocky Mountains sucks. There's UCLA, Arizona, and Gonzaga. Football and the NBA dominates. ESPN and other media companies have to try to build up their college basketball viewer base west of the rockies. And they do that by trying to build up the Gonzaga program to more than it really is, IMHO (same thing with St. Mary's.....the media is desperately searching for some sort of excitement).