Butler Looks to Take 2010 Horizon League Tournament

The 2010 Horizon League Tournament will feature a few compelling match ups but is ultimately highlighted by the surprising run of perennial conference power, Butler. The Bulldogs are entering their conference tournament with a stunning and impressive 18-game win streak, which started back on New Year's Eve when they pummeled then conference upstart, UW-Green Bay 72 to 49 at home.

With the first round of 2010 Horizon League Tournament games under the belt, the major storyline is whether or not Butler can continue their impressive winning streak or if someone can finally shake their grip on the conference.

Another key story for this year's Horizon League Tournament would be for the possibility of a second team from the conference getting into the NCAA field of 65 by virtue of winning the conference tournament and possible upset of Butler along the way.

Behind the strength of their 18-game streak Butler has climbed to #11 in the latest Associated Press poll and stands to be a virtual lock to get into the tournament without winning any conference tournament games at all. If they fail to take home the 2010 Horizon League Tournament banner, then another team would get the conference's one automatic bid and the NCAA selection committee would almost assuredly bring Butler into the tournament on their own merits. Make no mistake; these teams will need to work to knock off the Bulldogs.

First round action saw host Cleveland State University (16-16) easily take down Loyola of Illinois (14-16) by a final score of 80-66. In other games around the league, UW-Green Bay (21-11) soundly defeated Youngstown State (8-22) by a score of 81-67. Valparaiso (15-17) lost at home to Detroit University (19-13) and UW-Milwaukee (19-13) narrowing defeated Illinois-Chicago (8-22) by a final of 73-67.

The 2010 Horizon League Tournament will next feature match ups between Detroit and UW-Green Bay in one quarter final and Cleveland State and UW-Milwaukee in the other taking place Friday night. Waiting in the wings is #1 seed Butler (26-4) and #2 seed Wright State (19-11) who have secured free passes to the Semifinal round by virtue of their regular season success.

I see Milwaukee advancing to meet Wright State in the first Semifinal match up and Green Bay winning the right to face Butler in the other Semifinal game on Saturday night. Wright State did not end the year playing particularly well, losers of their last two out of three although both losses came by just five points. I see the Raiders having trouble stopping a Milwaukee team that has looked great since overcoming a three-game losing streak at the end of January to be winners in six of their last seven games. Milwaukee advances.

In the other Semifinal, I predict we'll see a third meeting between Green Bay and Butler in what should prove to be a really fantastic and hard fought game. Butler hasn't lost in months, but Green Bay is also finishing up their season strong after having a 6-2 February to make it to 20 wins. It's so, so tough to beat any time three times in one season regardless of the quality of competition, but Green Bay's two games against the Bulldogs earlier in the year were a far cry from competitive. The evidence is clear, if we want a "Bracket Buster" this tournament season, this game is a likely candidate as any to provide it. Ultimately, I will be taking the proven winner who defeated Green Bay twice already this year by margins of 23 and 18 points. I don't think we'll see a yawner again, but with the way Butler has been playing I'm not sure anyone would be surprised.

Finals Matchup; Butler Bulldogs versus Milwaukee Panthers. Butler has run the conference table this year meaning that any team they face in the tournament, they will have to attempt to put away for the third time in one season. Butler will have likely defeated Green Bay for a third time and will look to complete their Wisconsin Sweep by taking out the Panthers in the 2010 Horizon League Tournament finals. With the exception of just two of the other nine teams in the league, every conference opponent Butler has faced had at least moderately trimmed the deficit by which they lost in game #2 with Butler, versus game #1, especially Milwaukee which took a 13 point loss on January 2^nd and came out with a 7 point, last minute loss on January 31^st at home.

The spirit of the basketball fan inside of me wants the NCAA bracket to get shattered by having Milwaukee upset Butler and secure an automatic bid. The movie enthusiast needs to see that late game, narrow margin upset where David tackles Goliath. But in all honesty, that caliber by which Butler has torn through the Horizon League this year leaves me with nothing short of certainty that they are up to the task and will take their opponent seriously. My heart sides with Milwaukee, but my head and my pick choose Butler in a very entertaining game.