Since Butler captivated the country with its run to the national title game, he's gotten the grand tour at the Indianapolis 500, been invited to New York and done more photo shoots than he can count.
If he could count, that is.
Blue II, Butler's English bulldog mascot, has used his prime camera time during the Final Four and some creative social networking to become a ''bone fide'' celebrity, generating plenty of free publicity for his small Indianapolis school in the process.
''It's huge. In today's landscape of higher education, you really are trying to set yourself apart and you've got to do it in a way that's genuine because people will see right through you if it's not,'' said Michael Kaltenmark, Blue II's owner and a member of Butler's development staff. ''It needs to fit within your brand, too. You don't want to come across as something you're not.''
Mascots have been around almost as long as universities, symbols designed to capture the ''personality'' of a team or school and make it that much more appealing. Leland Stanford Junior University doesn't seem nearly so stuffy after watching the antics of The Tree for a bit. One look at Mike the Tiger, and you know better than to mess with LSU.
But the best mascots not only personify their school, they become its brand, effortless advertising that no high-priced marketing campaign can beat.
''The really original ones become part of the identity and have a lot of value in that respect,'' said John Sweeney, director of sports communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Journalism and Mass Communication. ''It's effortless when it works, but you can't force that. They have this emotional power that's real in the world of marketing and branding.''
Take Georgia's Uga, the quintessential mascot.
Frank ''Sonny'' Seiler never imagined the universal appeal Uga would have when he donated an all-white English bulldog to his alma mater in 1956. But people have gravitated to the dogs - Uga VIII will be introduced at Saturday's homecoming game against Vanderbilt - to the point where they've become synonymous with Georgia.
''He is the rallying point for the Bulldog Nation,'' athletic director Greg McGarity said.
And a reference point for everybody else.
See a white bulldog in a red jersey and spiked collar and you immediately think of Georgia. The university uses Uga in fundraising campaigns and other promotions, and his endorsements with blue chip companies such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Kodak have brought in big bucks for Georgia.
''Without him, they would really have to look around to find an icon that could replace him,'' said Seiler, who takes great care not to oversell Uga and cheapen his image. ''I think he's a very valuable asset to the University of Georgia.''
The University of Mississippi's search for a new mascot took on cult-fad status across the country with those ESPN ads featuring Admiral Ackbar (the ''rebel'' from the Star Wars movies, get it?). The ''Rebel Black Bear'' won out with 62 percent of the vote in a final poll, not that the announcement Thursday stopped fans from bickering about the choice.
Kaltenmark wasn't thinking about Blue's marketing possibilities when he and his wife brought the beige-and-white bundle of fur home six years ago. Kaltenmark, a Butler grad, just thought it would be fun to have a dog and, better yet, one that was his alma mater's mascot.
But Kaltenmark also recognized the uniqueness of a live mascot.
There are only a few around the country, and fans are on a first-name basis with the most famous. (Think Uga, Ralphie, Bevo.) Butler may not be as big as Georgia or Texas, but Kaltenmark thought Blue might be another way for people to connect with the school.
Besides the traditional appearances with the athletic teams, Blue does meet-and-greets with prospective students and other campus visitors. What really sets Blue apart, though, is the personality Kaltenmark has given him on Twitter and Facebook.
''I just channel what I think he would say or how he'd respond, and think that's been the key,'' he said.
Blue has the swagger you'd expect from a bulldog, a little cocky but in a cute way. Fans have gotten to know his daily routine, his friends and his likes (ice cream, chew toys, his new parking spot) and dislikes (thunder, fireworks, anything related to Duke).
And people love it.
He's up to almost 2,200 followers on Twitter, more than double his number before the Final Four. Granted, those aren't Kanye West numbers, but consider that some of those folks following him had absolutely no connection to Butler before Blue.
The pictures Blue posts on photo-sharing site Flickr are an even bigger hit. During the Final Four, Blue's pictures were drawing a whopping 9,000 to 10,000 views a day. That's tailed off since then, but he's still drawing 300 to 1,000 views of his photos every day.
''A basic element of branding is to have a relationship with a consumer - current students, alums, general sports fans. It's an instantaneous identifier,'' said Chris Cakebread, an advertising professor at Boston University. ''Whether it be the USC Trojan, the (Notre Dame) Leprechaun, the (Syracuse) Orange, kids like them, teens like them, unhappy people like them. Even the other team likes them.
''They make you feel good.''
Although there's no way to quantify if Blue's newfound popularity has translated into cold, hard cash, any positive interest in a school is a bonus.
Not to mention that the sight of Blue is a reminder to alums and outsiders of Butler's feel-good run to the Final Four.
''We're really making a name for ourselves (at Butler),'' Kaltenmark said, ''and Blue's been a big part of it.''
