Butler Basketball: 5 storylines to follow for the 2017 Big East tournament

1 of 6

Feb 26, 2017; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Butler Bulldogs head coach Chris Holtmann (L) talks to his team during a time out in the second half against the Xavier Musketeers at the Cintas Center. Butler won 88-79. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports /

Entering the Big East Tournament, Butler basketball holds the two seed, but how far will the Bulldogs go before Selection Sunday?

The Butler Bulldogs have been one of the biggest surprises in college basketball this season, as they were predicted to finish sixth in the Big East prior to going 12-6 and being the second-best team in the conference. On top of that, Chris Holtmann’s team swept both Xavier and Villanova, something that had never happened in the new Big East. Villanova is the clear favorite to win this tournament, but, for the Bulldogs, they still have a lot to play for.

Entering the tournament, Butler is a three seed in my projected field, but they are still capable of reaching the two line. For the time being, both Louisville and Kentucky are ahead of the Dawgs on the seed line, but if Butler can jump just one of those teams, they will start their journey in March Madness in Indianapolis.

Butler has beaten every team in the Big East except for Creighton this season, and there is no reason to think that they can’t win the whole thing. Nonetheless, there are a lot of factors going into how they will compete and what could come out of a potentially deep run in the Big East Tournament.

To do so, they will likely have to face off against Villanova, but they have beaten them twice already, so three is in play. Quite possibly the biggest challenge for Butler is making sure that they start off hot, and avoid losing in their first game to either DePaul or Xavier.

Home/Big East