THE FINAL FOUR – The Butler Did It

Butler University is a private liberal arts university in Indianapolis. It was founded by abolitionist and attorney Ovid Butler in 1855.

It serves over 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students in 60 degree programs through five colleges: Business, Education, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and the Jordan College of Fine Arts. Butler’s tuition, room and board total $41,500 annually, and over two-thirds of students receive some form of need-based aid. It has an endowment of $113 million, and on Saturday April 3rd, 2010, the Butler University Bulldogs will be at the center of the basketball universe.

Butler’s basketball arena, Hinkle Fieldhouse, was the largest basketball arena in the US for several decades. It is considered a Hoosier Hysteria icon: from its opening in 1928 until 1971, it was the site of the final rounds of the Indiana state high school basketball tournament and was the site for the championship game in the movie Hoosiers. In 1954, Butler hosted the historic final when Milan High School (enrollment 161) defeated Muncie High School [now Muncie Central] (enrollment over 1,600) to win the state title. The state final depicted in the 1986 movie Hoosiers, loosely based on the Milan Miracle story, was shot in Hinkle Fieldhouse.

All college basketball fans know that Indiana is a basketball state, and the Final Four is in Indianapolis this year, So, when Butler (enrollment 4,500) tips off against Michigan State (enrollment 47,000), basketball neutrals will be rooting for Butler. The other game between West Virginia (enrollment 28,000) and Duke (enrollment 14,000) is almost a sideshow.

Basketball legends, Larry Bird, Oscar Robertson and John Wooden are all from Indiana, all the stars are in alignment. A Butler victory in this tournament would be the second great sports story of the year, the first was the New Orleans Saints winning the Superbowl.

Prediction: Butler to win it all.

The Butler Bulldogs.