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03/18/2010 -
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -Every time Brad Stevens walks into Hinkle Fieldhouse, he peers into the rafters.
There he sees the overflowing banners listing conference titles and NCAA tournament appearances and quickly realizes what Butler has become: A national model for mid-major schools.
But even with all the attention and success, the third-year coach understands this NCAA tourney will be different for the blue-collar Bulldogs. His team is no longer a surprise, seeded fifth in the West Region, and takes the nation's longest winning streak, 20 games, into Thursday's first-round contest against UTEP.
``I've never been a part of anything like that, and I've been a part of some pretty special things here,'' Stevens said after win No. 20 brought his second Horizon League tourney title in three years.
Stevens and his players admit they're not thinking about 'The Streak' because there's so much work still to do.
They're motivated to make amends after last year's first-round exit - a 75-71 loss to LSU - despite playing with three freshmen starters and struggling late in the season.
Now, a year older, a year wiser and with a far stronger finish, Butler wants to recreate some of its postseason magic.
In 2003, the Bulldogs became the tournament darling after upsetting Louisville in the second round. They were also the biggest impediment to Florida's Final Four run in 2000 and the Gators' second national championship run in 2007.
And this year, the Bulldogs (28-4) have a resume that would make the nation's biggest programs proud.
- They are the only Division I team with a perfect conference record, last losing Dec. 22 at Alabama-Birmingham.
- They won a fourth straight league title by a record six games and nearly set a new record for victory margin in the conference title game. Second-seeded Wright State made its final basket to trim the margin to 25, the record is 26.
- Butler won eight of its last nine games by at least nine points, the only exception coming at Valparaiso when conference player of the year Gordon Hayward sat out with a sore back.
- Three of their four losses came to NCAA tourney teams - Clemson, Georgetown and Minnesota - none of them at home.
- Plus, the Bulldogs defeated three NCAA teams - Big Ten champion Ohio State, Metro Atlantic Athletic champ Siena and Xavier - and beat UCLA on its last trip to California.
But it's the final sprint that may go down as the Bulldogs' biggest achievement, thanks to an unwavering desire to keep improving.
``It's hard to even think about that (20 straight wins),'' junior center Matt Howard said. ``It's nowhere near where the Connecticut women are. Twenty games, that's a lot, but if you start dwelling on that, it can end real quick. We've just got to keep that focus to keep it going.''
At Butler, that's how you play basketball.
Glamourous titles and individual successes always take a backseat to what's best for the program.
Perhaps it's the reason Butler has never produced an NBA player.
Or why one of the nation's oldest gyms, which has hosted stars ranging from Oscar Robertson to Greg Oden, is best known for its Hollywood role in the movie ``Hoosiers.''
Or why all but the most avid basketball fans would struggle to name Howard and Hayward as the last two Horizon League players of the year.
If the Bulldogs have learned anything this season, it's this: Follow the blueprint.
``We've been through a lot, through wins, through losses,'' sophomore point guard Ronald Nored said. ``Everything hasn't been perfect, but we've been persistent and fought through everything.''
Whether it was the brutal nonconference schedule that took the Bulldogs from California to New York City, the early-season foul trouble that plagued Howard or all those conference teams that know how to defend Butler's offense, the Bulldogs figured out how to win with only one senior starter and one of the nation's youngest coaches.
The 33-year-old Stevens has rewritten the book on success. He has won 84 games, the most ever in his first three seasons breaking the previous record of 82 which was shared by Gonzaga's Mark Few and Nevada's Mark Fox, and he's done it the Butler Way.
Yet after making seven NCAA appearances since 2000, reaching the regional semifinals twice, winning the NIT Preseason Tip-Off title in November 2006, this year's winning streak may go down as Butler's biggest achievement of the decade.
Unless, of course, they win four more, make it back home to Indianapolis and get to hoist a Final Four banner.
``One of the things that's neat about this run is they've brought it every single night and in games where, quite frankly, people would really get on them if they lost, from the outside,'' Stevens said. ``They don't care. These guys just believe in doing the right things. I know this, when we get in the huddle and we're meeting at media timeouts and we're together, we believe in each other and we're going to try to put our best foot forward.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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