Top 5 confirmed opponents on Butler Basketball's 2025-26 non-con schedule

This past season, the Butler Bulldogs went 15-20 overall and 6-14 in Big East play. A nine-game losing streak effectively took them out of postseason contention, despite earning good wins over Northwestern and Mississippi State in the non-conference. 

The Bulldogs are the latest program from the conference to announce its non-conference schedule, which includes exhibition matchups against Notre Dame and Indiana State. As far as those games that will count against their record, here’s a look at the top five.

5. Boise State Broncos

Star forward Tyson Degenhart is gone, but the Broncos do bring back two other key frontcourt pieces in Andrew Meadow and Javan Buchanan. The key to how good they’ll be in the Mountain West is the impact of UCLA transfer Dylan Andrews. If he becomes a good lead guard, they’ll be a postseason contender once again. 

4. South Carolina Gamecocks

After finishing last in the SEC last season with a 2-16 record, the roster has undergone a complete overhaul. Meechie Johnson is back after a quality campaign with the Gamecocks two years ago, with the team also landing notable transfers such as Kobe Knox and Elijah Strong. They’ll need former top-40 prospect Cam Scott to have a breakout sophomore campaign for them to be competitive in the SEC.

3. Northwestern Wildcats

One of the best players Butler will play next season will be Nick Martinelli, who averaged 20.5 ppg and 6.2 rpg for Northwestern. Joining him are a pair of guard transfers in Jayden Reid (South Florida) and Max Green, who dropped 15 ppg as a freshman at Holy Cross. We’ll see if the overall depth is good enough for them to compete in the Big Ten, but Northwestern will have the high-end talent to win games in the non-con.

2. SMU Mustangs

SMU brings back a trio of double-digit scorers from last season, including guards Kevin Miller and BJ Edwards, along with sophomore center Samet Yigitoglu. They also landed Jaron Pierre, who averaged over 20 ppg at Jacksonville State. If the Mustangs can defend better, they’ll be an ACC contender to watch.

1. Virginia Cavaliers

Virginia has a new HC in Ryan Odom, who has won during his days at VCU, Utah State, and UMBC. He landed several high-profile guards from the portal, including Dallin Hall (BYU), Malik Thomas (San Fran), and Sam Lewis (Toledo). They also have Thijs De Ridder, one of the top international frontcourt prospects from overseas. As long as the frontcourt depth is sorted out, Virginia should resemble what it did during the Tony Bennett era.