David Woods

david.woods@indystar.com

Butler vs. North Carolina, 7:09 p.m. Friday in Memphis, CBS

INDIANAPOLIS – College basketball’s South Regional features bluebloods: North Carolina, Kentucky, UCLA. Butler features: Blue III.

No, really.

As great as Butler tradition has been over two decades, it surpasses the others only in the live mascot category.

Coach Chris Holtmann said he knew the Bulldogs had a successful program when they returned to campus Sunday after reaching the Sweet 16 “and it’s your mascot that’s greeting you, and that’s about it.”

This mascot, “Trip,” has never been to the Final Four. Of course, he would be eager to follow in the pawprints of predecessor Blue II.

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Not only did Butler's bus arrive. So has this program. The Bulldogs aren’t singing the blues about this Group of Death.

No. 4-seeded Butler (25-8) meets top seed North Carolina (29-7) in a Friday semifinal at Memphis, Tenn. The winner advances to meet No. 2 seed Kentucky (31-5) or No. 3 seed UCLA (31-4).

If North Carolina, Kentucky and UCLA made up three-fourths of the 2017 Final Four, no one would have been surprised. Now, only one of them can go … unless Butler beats two of them.

“Actually, it’s really fun,” Butler point guard Tyler Lewis said of the regional. “In the NCAA tournament, you know once you get to the second weekend, you’re going to have to play against great teams.”

UCLA (11), Kentucky (eight) and North Carolina (five) are 1-2-3 in all-time NCAA titles. The Tar Heels are tied with Indiana and Duke.

You select the category – season ranking, national championships, team budget, high school All-Americans, school enrollment, tourney odds – and Butler is last among these four. (See chart attached.)

If these were technology companies, North Carolina, Kentucky and UCLA are Apple, Samsung and Microsoft. Butler is a start-up.

Yet it’s not as if Butler recruited players out of a pumpkin patch or feasted on cupcakes. The Bulldogs earned their highest seed ever. They came into the NCAA tournament with more wins over the field (14) than anyone, and they twice beat top-ranked Villanova. They are the only team in the Sweet 16 never to have trailed in this tournament.

“We showed this year we can go out and compete and beat anybody,” Lewis said.

Indeed, Butler has twice beaten North Carolina in recent seasons – both off the mainland, coincidentally. The Bulldogs beat the Tar Heels 74-66 on Nov. 26, 2014, in the Bahamas and 82-71 on Nov. 20, 2012, on Maui.

Holtmann said said those two recent outcomes won’t influence this meeting. The Butler coach spoke briefly Monday with North Carolina coach Roy Williams.

“His teams play the way they play. They don’t deviate from it,” Holtmann said. “They’re going to play that way all the time. And they’re outstanding at what they do. That’s kind of who he is as a coach.”

The teams have played one common opponent: Indiana. Butler beat the Hoosiers 83-78; North Carolina lost at IU 76-67.

The Tar Heels are No. 6 nationally in offensive efficiency and No. 1 in offensive rebounding with a figure (42.2 percent) that is the best by a team in a power conference since 2013.

“There are no bad No. 1 seeds, are there?” Holtmann asked. “That’s now what you get in the Sweet 16. Our guys understand that.”

Not that playing Kentucky or UCLA would be any easier.

“We prepared tremendously for this,” said Andrew Chrabascz, an All-Big East forward. “And we’re ready for it.”

T-Lew has a doppelganger

Jesse Tyler Ferguson must be a basketball fan.

The “Modern Family” actor tweeted: “hello …… it’s me @Adele” in a reply to a photo of Lewis, using a lyric from an Adele song.

Lewis saw it and tweeted back another Adele lyric:

“Hello from the other side.”

Lewis said he enjoyed seeing the Twitter post after Butler’s 74-65 victory over Middle Tennessee State on Saturday at Milwaukee.

“It’s very fun to have that opportunity. I guess he’s a very good-looking guy since he takes after me,” Lewis said, laughing.

Call IndyStar reporter David Woods at (317) 444-6195. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

Butler vs. North Carolina, 7:09 p.m. Friday in Memphis, CBS

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South Regional

How they stack up

No. 1 North Carolina

Record: 29-7.

USA Today ranking: No. 8.

National championships: 5.

Team budget: $8.67 million.

High school All-Americans: 7

Enrollment: 17,606.

Tourney odds: 5-to-1.

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No. 2 Kentucky

Record: 31-5.

USA Today ranking: No. 5.

National championships: 8.

Team budget: $18.91 million.

High school All-Americans: 7.

Enrollment: 21,058.

Tourney odds: 10-to-1.

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No. 3 UCLA

Record: 31-4.

USA Today ranking: No. 6.

National championships: 11.

Team budget: $9.03 million.

High school All-Americans: 5.

Enrollment: 29,000.

Tourney odds: 9-to-1.

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No. 4 Butler

Record: 25-8.

USA Today ranking: No. 24.

National championships: 0 (see below).

Team budget: $4.85 million.

High school All-Americans: 1.

Enrollment: 4,551.

Tourney odds: 40-to-1.

NOTE: Butler won a national AAU championship in 1924 and was mythical national champion in 1929. Budget data taken from U.S. Department of Education equity in athletics data analysis.