The list of schools to make consecutive Final Four appearances since 1985 is loaded with names from the power conferences and Butler.
Butler?
After beating Florida 74-71 in overtime Saturday, the Bulldogs will take their Horizon League championship banner to the Final Four for a second straight year.
Last year was a blast with the underdog Bulldogs beating big-timers Syracuse, Kansas State and Michigan State before losing to Duke in the title game.
It wasn't just any championship game. Butler was playing six miles from campus in Indianapolis. Gordon Hayward let go a shot from inside halfcourt that hit the backboard and the rim. Duke won its fourth title, and the celebration to end all celebrations was put on hold.
The Bulldogs will be a lot farther away this time - Houston. But all of America is ready to party if Butler were to become the first mid-major to win it all since UNLV and its roster of future NBA players in 1990.
Butler's roster is full of good college players, a group with plenty of NCAA tournament experience thanks to the five-game run last year that made the school a household name and Blue2 the bulldog a very popular mascot.
The last team to go to the Final Four in consecutive years was North Carolina in 2008-09. The others since 1985 are led by Duke's run of five straight from 1988-92, while Kentucky (1996-98), Michigan State (1999-2001) and UCLA (2006-08) went to three in a row. The others are UNLV, Michigan, Arkansas, North Carolina (1997-98), Michigan State (2009-10), Kansas and Florida.
All schools with impressive pedigrees as the elite of the sport.
Now, add Butler.
''They are a good team. They're tough. They have good players. You know, they're physical, they have all the characteristics of a good team,'' Florida's Chandler Parsons said after Butler beat the Gators 74-71 in overtime to earn the trip to Houston. ''You know, it's not like it's their first time here. They were in this situation last year, so I think their experience helped them. And I think they just came up with big plays when the team needed it.''
Butler's run wasn't a smooth one.
The Bulldogs started the season 4-4. They finished 13-5 in the Horizon League, in a three-way tie for first with Cleveland State and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. They won the postseason tournament for the automatic berth in the NCAA field, although an at-large bid was pretty much assured.
''Well, I think you come into the season, and with the success that we had last year, you do your best to strive for that again. And there were some shortcomings early,'' guard Ronald Nored said. ''Then we played well in December, and then there were some shortcomings again in January. I think our team did a great job of just staying together through everything. ...
''Getting to this point isn't easy and staying together isn't easy when everything is going wrong. And that was the thing that I think has gotten us to this point.''
The NCAA tournament run started with a tip-in at the buzzer to beat Old Dominion, the survival of one of the wildest endings ever to knock out top-seeded Pittsburgh, a solid win over Wisconsin and the overtime victory over Florida.
''We were lucky to advance,'' 34-year-old coach Brad Stevens said. ''We were lucky to beat Old Dominion. They could be sitting here, Pittsburgh could be sitting here, there's no doubt, great teams. That's the tournament. It doesn't matter how you win, you just try to play the next one. And if you get a chance to play the next one, that's your only hope.''
Now the Bulldogs are on a list with some of the greatest programs in college basketball history.
Yep, Butler did it.
