ST. LOUIS — A rivalry could be born, and that's good news for Saint Louis.
On Wednesday, the Atlantic 10 Conference announced that Butler will leave the Horizon League and become a member starting July 1, 2013. The Bulldogs will represent a strong addition to what's already considered one of the country's top basketball-driven leagues. They offer a young coaching star in Brad Stevens and a proven program that finished as the national runner-up in 2010 and 2011.
But for SLU, the Indianapolis-based school also offers the possibility for a valued regional rivalry to form. Games at Chaifetz Arena against Xavier, located in Cincinnati, already hold intrigue. Take last season: On Feb. 28, a crowd of 10,441 watched the Billikens beat the Musketeers by 11 to solidify their NCAA tournament hopes in what was one of the best home environments of the year. It was a fitting way to cap the careers of seniors, forward Brian Conklin and guard Kyle Cassity. It was memorable, and Xavier's proximity to the Gateway City was part of the reason why.
Now, picture the same scene in five years, only with Butler playing before a raucous white-clad crowd on South Compton Avenue. Or imagine trips by the Billikens to venerable Hinkle Fieldhouse with A-10 tournament and possible NCAA tournament seeding at stake.
Could a rivalry between SLU and Butler begin? It's possible, and it would be a positive thing for the Billikens.
"There's the potential, you bet," SLU athletic director Chris May told FOXSports.com. "Xavier and Dayton have turned into big rivalry-type events here. I think the Butler events could do so, as well. We've got a history of playing them in the past (when SLU and Butler were in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference). We're certainly looking forward to starting that back up in the 2013-14 school year."
Of course, there's history between the schools. SLU leads the series 16-11, the last game in 2003 when Butler won at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Before a home-and-home series in 2002 and '03, though, the Bulldogs and Billikens hadn't faced each other since 1991, SLU's final season in the MCC.
The reunion is important for Butler and SLU. For the Bulldogs, it gives them a more visible conference home (while providing the A-10 with the country's 26th-largest media market before new rights-agreement negotiations begin). For the Billikens, it gives them an attractive regional foe in what's already an East Coast-centric league.
"That portion of our footprint is very important to us," A-10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade said. "We have valuable institutions within the Atlantic 10 in Xavier and Dayton and Saint Louis and Duquesne in the western part of Pennsylvania. It really was a perfect fit. It really is an ideal location. That was a very favorable criteria."
Butler's pedigree also was an attraction. The A-10 is the only non-big six conference to earn as many as 41 at-large NCAA tournament bids over the last 20 years. This past season, the league had three at-large teams invited — SLU, Temple and Xavier — in addition to surprise A-10 tournament champion St. Bonaventure.
Meanwhile, Butler boasts a notable tradition of its own. The Bulldogs have appeared in the NCAA tournament five of the past six years, and has 11 appearances overall. Last season, Butler (22-15) failed to make the Big Dance for the first time in five seasons. Names such as Shelvin Mack and Gordon Hayward bring to mind flashes of Cinderella and surprise for anyone who has followed college basketball the past three seasons.
Plus, Steven could join SLU coach Rick Majerus as one of the league's most prominent figures on the sideline.
All of that means SLU could become more relevant, too. A higher profile for the A-10 means more awareness for the Billikens and each of the conference's members. A meaningful rivalry between SLU and Butler would add to both programs' health.
"We have a history of playing one another in an earlier version of a conference," Butler athletic director Barry Collier said. "We would welcome rivalries with everyone in the A-10. But, clearly, the Midwest school with a natural geographic location makes that even more likely."
Added May: "(Butler's addition) continues to position the Atlantic 10 as clearly the best basketball-driven conference in the country. There's plenty of barometers to gauge that on, but ... this is another clear message that the Atlantic 10 is the premier basketball-driven conference."
Perhaps so, and a competitive SLU-Butler rivalry would be another.
