Butler is not Cinderella

Provided you're not a fan of Michigan State, West Virginia or Duke, I bet you'll be pulling for Butler. There's nothing wrong with that. But this Butler squad is not a Cinderella. In fact, they are fast approaching the level of being a legit contender and all of the NCAA world needs to wake up and take notice.

Butler won its conference's regular season and post season tournament. The Bulldogs were undefeated during the regular season. That's the point here. People sell Brad Stevens' group far too short due to the conference in which they play, the Horizon League. It's not exactly a hoops powerhouse.

Don't tell that to the AP Coach of the Year Jim Boeheim. Don't tell that to his runner-up Frank Martin either. They will strongly disagree with your outlook of the Butler Bulldogs. Syracuse and K-State were the top two seeds in Butler's region and the Bulldogs toppled both of them. Butler is slowly earning the right to be mentioned in the same breath as Gonzaga, at least. A "mid-major" making a big splash.

Isn't it about time the Butler Bulldogs received a bit of credit for the season they've had? They were a preseason top 15 team, but they can't get that respect. Unfortunately, I don't think they will even if they win the tournament. All we've heard since the regionals is that Butler will be playing at home.

But they're not. True, they are playing in their home town, but playing in Hinkle Fieldhouse is a far cry from playing in Lucas Oil Stadium.

A team from the Big Ten, Big East and ACC are in Indy, too, but it's the local team from the "little" Horizon League creating all the buzz. Time to give them their props.