Bulldogs back in top 25, George Mason off to fast start

A.J. Graves and Butler won the Great Alaska Shootout title and a spot in the top 25. AP

MAILBAG Have questions or feedback? E-mail Bill Trocchi. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Knocking off BCS conference teams, winning preseason tournaments, being ranked in the top 25 and talking to the national media is nothing new for Butler. In fact, according to guard A.J. Graves, this is getting "routine."

Routine? For any mid-major school not named Gonzaga, all of that is anything but routine. But for Butler, which is 6-0 and ranked No. 16 after winning the Great Alaska Shootout, this team has experienced it all before.

"Last year, it was new for all of us -- how to deal with the media, teams coming in and giving us their best shot, stuff like that," Graves said. "Now that we have been through that for a year and have the same guys coming back, we are able to focus on the task at hand. We are better prepared for it this year."

Last year, Butler came out of nowhere to win the preseason NIT championship with victories over Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee and Gonzaga. That led to a season in which the Bulldogs were ranked the final 16 weeks of the year, including as high as No. 10 in early February. Butler put a scare into eventual national champion Florida in the Sweet 16 and ended up with a school-record 29 wins.

Post players Brandon Crone and Brian Ligon moved on, but the biggest departure was coach Todd Lickliter, who bolted for Iowa after seven seasons. Assistant Brad Stevens was promoted to the head job, and he has the luxury of starting five seniors who have seen Butler grow from solid mid-major into one of the top small programs in the country.

"We didn't want to take a step back," said Graves, who leads the team with 18.5 points per game. "We return five seniors and a strong, young bench. We just want to continue to move forward."

That experience was on display in Alaska. After bombing Michigan in the opener with 17 three-pointers, Butler survived a tough challenge from Virginia Tech in overtime before beating Bob Knight and Texas Tech 81-71 in the final. For Stevens, 30, the matchup against Knight will be one he'll remember.

"I didn't think of it as Brad Stevens vs. Bobby Knight, because it would have been about 896 to 5. We'd be in trouble," Stevens said. "I just thought about how to prepare for his team. When you are growing up watching his team, you appreciate how good of a coach he is. When you coach against him, you are blown away."

Knight took some time to speak to the entire Butler staff, all of whom are in their early 30s.

"I was extremely humbled by the comments he made about our team," Stevens said. "He was unbelievable. It meant a ton to me as a person who grew up in Indiana and all of our assistants who grew up in Indiana."

The Great Alaska MVP was guard Mike Green, who plays alongside Graves to give Butler one of the better backcourts in the nation. Green averaged 20 points and 6.7 assists while sitting out just eight minutes in the three games.

"We saw what we were capable of last year," said Green, who was 7-for-8 from three during the tournament. "This is definitely a way to get off to a fast start."

Up next for Butler is one of its most highly anticipated games of the season: Former Butler coach Thad Matta returns to his alma mater with Ohio State for a showdown at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday.

"I hope it is everything I've dreamed of," Green said. "Big-time school, sold-out crowd. I think that is something most guys dream of."

This is the second game of a four-game contract between the two schools, with each side getting two home games.

"For Thad to bring Ohio State to Butler means a lot to Butler," Stevens said. "To be able to have a school like Ohio State agree to a contract like that is certainly something we're thankful for."

1 of 2