BRAD STEVENS
Would relish rivalry with Marquette.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — One of the greatest rivalries in college basketball, a rivalry that was killed off this year by greed, began on Feb. 15, 1930 in less than stellar fashion.
Syracuse thrashed Georgetown, 40-18.
The Orangemen would win six of their first seven meetings. But by the 1980s, when the Big East emerged as the most dominant conference in college basketball, the Hoyas and Orange had built a blood feud that Shakespeare would have envied.
Syracuse, of course, is headed to the ACC, where fans in upstate New York can enjoy those trips to Winston-Salem, N.C., and Blacksburg, Va. and revel in the league tournament in Greensboro, N.C. Georgetown will be one of the anchors of the new Big East, which will need to build new rivalries.
What better way to start than tonight in Rupp Arena:
Marquette, the No. 3 seed in the East Region, faces sixth-seeded Butler, which joins the Big East next season, with the right to advance to the Sweet 16 on the line.
“If that’s the beginning of a rivalry, that would be great,’’ Butler coach Brad Stevens said.
The series is tied 14-14, with Butler winning the most recent contest, 72-71, in the Maui Classic on Nov. 19. Both teams play with zealous intensity and rugged defense — in other words, like Big East teams.
“When you play in the Big East, each team plays extremely hard,’’ Marquette center Chris Otule said. “You’re capable of losing to any team, whether it’s DePaul, South Florida, any team is capable of beating you on any given night. I think Butler brings that extreme toughness to the team. They’ll fit in well.’’
The Bulldogs, which finished in a tie for third place in their first season in the Atlantic 10 Conference, are poised to do much more than fit in. With one of the game’s best coaches in Stevens, a renovated basketball cathedral named Hinkle Fieldhouse and a commitment to the sport from the highest levels of the administration, Butler can be a Big East player immediately.
“I think in the last four, five years, Butler has obviously proven they’re a top-tier program and a program that demands respect,’’ Marquette’s Trent Lockett said. “So I think it will bring a lot to the Big East just having a name like Butler come to the conference.’’
The Bulldogs, which went to the Final Four in 2010-11, resemble the most recent edition of Connecticut, a program that muscled in on the turf once guarded by a moat of royalty named Duke, Kentucky and UCLA.
Marquette, which won an NCAA title in 1977 under former St. John’s star Al McGuire, has made a BCS-type financial commitment to basketball, spending the third-largest amount of money on its program in the Big East, behind Louisville and Syracuse which are both leaving the conference.
No wonder the Golden Eagles are making their eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and have built a brand of their own.
“I think that the tradition, all of the things,’’ Marquette coach Buzz Williams said. “It’s a basketball-only school, and I think the support of the city of Milwaukee. … It’s a known commodity, it’s a known brand.’’
Sign here if you want to be Big East Conference rivals going forward.
“I think you need a few more years of games before you really delve into the rivalry question,’’ Stevens said.
Marquette and Butler can dive right in — tonight.
* Louisville, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region, has been enjoying life as the favorite.
“Are we having fun?’’ Louisville guard Russ Smith of Brooklyn. “No, we’re having a lot of fun.’’
The Cardinals (30-5) could have more fun tonight in their third-round game against eight-seeded Colorado State. The Rams (26-8) won their first NCAA Tournament game in 24 years on Thursday night when they laid an 84-72 beatdown on Missouri.