Butler was in the NCAA National championship game in 2010 and 2011.
The closest ND has ever come was a 1979 loss to MSU in the Final Four.
PITTSBURGH - Two schools from Indiana will meet in Pennsylvania on Saturday to decide which one moves on to the Round of 16. Notre Dame and Butler have played 103 times before, but rarely with this much at stake.
Notre Dame has the fight song and the leprechaun and the big national reputation, but Butler has the history of recent success in the men's NCAA basketball tournament. The Irish have not made the Round of 16 in a dozen years. The Bulldogs famously reached national championship games in 2010 and 2011.
"They've been holding the torch for Indiana basketball," Notre Dame guard Jerian Grant said Friday. "Hopefully we can take that torch tomorrow."
Butler forward Andrew Chrabascz said it doesn't really matter that the Bulldogs have been the bigger name, in state and nationally, in terms of the tournament in recent years.
"They've done plenty this season - an unbelievable season, winning the ACC title - to prove they're a big-name program," Chrabascz said. "But hopefully we can keep up some of that Bulldog magic tomorrow night."
Irish coach Mike Brey said he doesn't talk to his team about Notre Dame's recent tournament struggles.
"I don't want them really dwelling" on that, Brey said. But "it certainly drives me to want to make a run in this thing. It's kind of the unfinished business for our program. We've done everything else. Our program is amazingly well respected. But it's the unfinished business, I think. The competitor I am, it drives me in the offseasons. I don't - would never get into that with a current team."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2015/03/19/ncaa-tournament-march-madness/25036053/
Brey pointed out that senior stars Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton had not won a Round-of-64 NCAA tournament game in their careers before Thursday.
"The first game, you're just trying to get the monkey off of your back," Grant said. "We won one NCAA tournament game and now we can get into the rhythm of things."
Brey made a similar point: "Instead of looking back to our past NCAA tournament disappointment, I framed it this way. Our first game in the ACC tournament, we had a dogfight against Miami and had to escape to win and then we got on a heck of a run. 'Let's do the same in this tournament' - that's kind of how I frame it with this group."
Even so, Brey's players are well aware of Notre Dame's struggles - and of Butler's tourney runs.
"We see the success they've had in March," Connaughton said, "vs. the success we haven't had in March."
This post was edited on 3/20 8:33 PM by sairish1
This post was edited on 3/21 11:42 AM by sairish1
Irish Cherry
The closest ND has ever come was a 1979 loss to MSU in the Final Four.
PITTSBURGH - Two schools from Indiana will meet in Pennsylvania on Saturday to decide which one moves on to the Round of 16. Notre Dame and Butler have played 103 times before, but rarely with this much at stake.
Notre Dame has the fight song and the leprechaun and the big national reputation, but Butler has the history of recent success in the men's NCAA basketball tournament. The Irish have not made the Round of 16 in a dozen years. The Bulldogs famously reached national championship games in 2010 and 2011.
"They've been holding the torch for Indiana basketball," Notre Dame guard Jerian Grant said Friday. "Hopefully we can take that torch tomorrow."
Butler forward Andrew Chrabascz said it doesn't really matter that the Bulldogs have been the bigger name, in state and nationally, in terms of the tournament in recent years.
"They've done plenty this season - an unbelievable season, winning the ACC title - to prove they're a big-name program," Chrabascz said. "But hopefully we can keep up some of that Bulldog magic tomorrow night."
Irish coach Mike Brey said he doesn't talk to his team about Notre Dame's recent tournament struggles.
"I don't want them really dwelling" on that, Brey said. But "it certainly drives me to want to make a run in this thing. It's kind of the unfinished business for our program. We've done everything else. Our program is amazingly well respected. But it's the unfinished business, I think. The competitor I am, it drives me in the offseasons. I don't - would never get into that with a current team."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2015/03/19/ncaa-tournament-march-madness/25036053/
Brey pointed out that senior stars Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton had not won a Round-of-64 NCAA tournament game in their careers before Thursday.
"The first game, you're just trying to get the monkey off of your back," Grant said. "We won one NCAA tournament game and now we can get into the rhythm of things."
Brey made a similar point: "Instead of looking back to our past NCAA tournament disappointment, I framed it this way. Our first game in the ACC tournament, we had a dogfight against Miami and had to escape to win and then we got on a heck of a run. 'Let's do the same in this tournament' - that's kind of how I frame it with this group."
Even so, Brey's players are well aware of Notre Dame's struggles - and of Butler's tourney runs.
"We see the success they've had in March," Connaughton said, "vs. the success we haven't had in March."
This post was edited on 3/20 8:33 PM by sairish1
This post was edited on 3/21 11:42 AM by sairish1
Irish Cherry
