Butler's players sat in the locker room, nursing the scrapes and bruises that had come with another round of gnawing through two more opponents and extending a run that seemed improbable to everyone but the Bulldogs themselves.
They didn't know who was next and didn't care. The Bulldogs were headed home to Indianapolis and their first ever Final Four.
``You know, I've never been in this situation before, and I can't even tell you what it will be like,'' forward Matt Howard said. ``I'm sure it will be a little nuts.''
Just a little?
The Bulldogs got a taste of that early Sunday when they arrived home to a swarm of fans who had waited hours in the cold rain to greet them.
``There is nothing like coming home and being able to play the Final Four in front of the people who have been watching you all year,'' sophomore point guard Ronald Nored said. ``Everyone was texting me, telling me there were a ton of people here. But I didn't believe it.''
Welcome home, Bulldogs.
``We're stepping into a little bit of the unknown in terms of bringing the hometown team back to Indianapolis,'' athletic director Barry Collier said. ``It's another huge positive and another big step - another huge step - for our program.''
Butler clinched its first Final Four berth with a 63-56 win over Kansas State on Saturday in the West Regional final. This week the Bulldogs will play Michigan State just five miles from campus.
The Bulldogs (32-4) have been able to build their reputation as the team from the little school that could to the team from the little school that's actually doing it.
The Horizon League champions are two wins from the national title. The Bulldogs extended their winning streak to 24 by beating top-seeded Syracuse on Thursday and then shutting down the No. 2-seed Wildcats on Saturday.
While waiting for the postgame interviews Saturday, a few of the Bulldogs headed off the anticipated questions from friends and family by asking coach Brad Stevens how many tickets the players would get for the Final Four.
``Coach said 'I don't know. I don't know what to tell you. I've never been there before,''' Nored said. ``We haven't been here before either. I think this is going to be something that we're going to cherish for a while.''
Even if it means another week of facing repeated questions about the movie ``Hoosiers.'' The 1987 movie's fabled ending was filmed at Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse and has provided endless comparisons to basketball underdogs for the last 23 years.
For the doubters who question the legitimacy of an unbeaten run through the Horizon League, the Bulldogs' last two opponents were the top two seeds in the West Regional.
Butler played its usual smackdown defense and held both teams under 60 points - dropping back and plugging up all easy routes to the basket while doggedly trying to get a hand on any ball that came within reach. The Bulldogs will dive for every loose ball, take a freight-train charge and anything else needed to maintain a nice, moderate pace.
Don't like it? Fine. Try to score on them.
``We've got a system that these guys buy into. We're not going to get out and pressure people. We can't afford to do that,'' Howard said. ``We play defense as a unit and as a team. Sometimes that throws some teams off initially.''
Kansas State was averaging more than 80 points before scoring a season low in a 63-56 loss on Saturday in the West Regional final. Syracuse also was averaging more than 80 before running into the Bulldogs' brick wall.
In four NCAA tournament games, nobody has scored 60 points on the Bulldogs yet. Butler's 20 turnovers against Kansas State was one short of the season high, but the Bulldogs offset the damage by outrebounding the Wildcats 41-29.
``It's hard to be happy for someone when you lose, but I've got to think it's going to be a great, great week for Butler people and people of the city of Indianapolis to have one of their own in the Final Four,'' Kansas State coach Frank Martin said.
