Butler finally breaks into rankings

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Butler Bulldogs have been chasing a Top 25 ranking since 1948. They finally got it.

Fifty-three years after last being ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, Butler re-emerged this week at No. 23.

"I wasn't around then," 46-year-old coach Todd Lickliter joked. "But I grew up in Indianapolis, and I never would have guessed it would have been that long because I've always had tremendous respect for Butler basketball."

The Bulldogs (11-0) entered the rankings as Ball State dropped out. Butler upset then-No. 21 Ball State 75-66 last week in Muncie.

Ball State had been in the Top 25 for a school record four consecutive weeks after defeating No. 4 Kansas and No. 3 UCLA on back-to-back nights in the Maui Invitational.

After losing to Duke in the championship game and at Indiana, the Cardinals remained in the Top 25. The loss to Butler finally knocked them out.

"I think we've proved we can play with anybody," Butler point guard Thomas Jackson said. "We've proved that we're a good team. In the past, we've not gotten a lot of respect, so we're used to that."

Nobody can discount the Bulldogs now.

Butler is one of just five Division I teams that is still unbeaten, and the program seems to be thriving under the guidance of Lickliter, the school's third coach in three years.

Lickliter honed his coaching skills under Barry Collier, who revived the Butler program before leaving for Nebraska, and Thad Matta, who led the Bulldogs last season to their first NCAA Tournament win since 1962 before he left for Xavier.

Now, it's Lickliter's turn.

Just 11 games into his head coaching career, he achieved something that only one other Butler coach -- Tony Hinkle -- managed, a spot in the AP rankings.

"I don't think there's any doubt that the vision was there with Barry and Thad," Lickliter said. "But the most meaningful thing is seeing the team get the respect they've earned."

Success didn't come easily or quickly for Butler.

The Bulldogs hadn't been to the NCAA Tournament for 34 years -- from 1962 until Collier's squad won the Midwestern College Conference tournament in 1997.

Since then, the Bulldogs have made four NCAA appearances and one NIT appearance. In March, they easily upset No. 23 Wake Forest in the first round by playing deliberate, old-school basketball.

"We just go out and get the job done," Jackson said. "It's as simple as that and that's all we need to do."

That strategy has allowed the Bulldogs to make a remarkable climb.

They've won 20 of 21 games -- the only loss coming to NCAA runner-up Arizona in the second round of the tournament in March -- and have played just six of those games on their home court.

Staying in the Top 25, however, will be even more difficult.

The Bulldogs, the only Indiana team in the Top 25 this week, face Samford on Friday in the first round of the Hoosier Classic at Conseco Fieldhouse.

A victory Friday would likely set up a championship showdown with Indiana, which dropped out of the Top 25 a week earlier, in a tournament that the Hoosiers have never lost.

But the Bulldogs aren't afraid.

After chasing the national rankings for so long, the Bulldogs must now get used to defending a poll spot.

"It's very nice to be ranked, we're very appreciative," Lickliter said. "But we know you're made on the court and that's what we enjoy."