Sports

Butler cast as favorite vs. Bucknell

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Three years ago, little-known Butler, playing in the obscure Horizon League, stunned the college basketball world by making the first of consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament championship game.

This year, the Bulldogs played in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Wednesday, Butler joined the Big East.

And Thursday, in one of the most astonishing full-circle journeys of any program, No. 6 seed Butler is the power school that many think can be had by No. 11 Bucknell.

“They deserve all the accolades, but they’re still in maybe the national media’s eyes or the national attention’s eyes not getting their due respect,’’ Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “From us and from basketball people in basketball circles, they have the utmost respect and they’re a really good basketball team. I can appreciate that. “Made me fall in love with the tournament where the teams like Bucknell or the teams like Butler or the teams like Davidson, all the way down the line, that, you know, again, people in basketball circles know there’s a reason they don’t schedule them in the preseason. They know.’’

* Bucknell has experienced some great NCAA Tournament success of its own. The Bison, as a No. 14 seed, upset No. 3 Kansas in 2005 and upended Arkansas the following season.

The win over Kansas put Bucknell on the map.

When asked if they knew where Bucknell was before that game, guard Bryson Johnson said, “I have no idea.’’ And star center Mike Muscala said, “No.”

* Louisville will play North Carolina A&T on the home court of Kentucky, its most passionate rival.

But Cardinals coach Rick Pitino, who led Kentucky to the 1996 national title before going to the NBA, said he is not a Kentucky hater.

“I don’t root against Kentucky except one game a year,’’ he said. “Very, very proud of this place. “I had eight years where I really didn’t have a bad day here, so how I could root against them in the one game a year that we play, we want to win. So it wouldn’t be that rewarding winning here. What would be rewarding is the fact we would get to Indianapolis.’’

* Butler guard Rotnei Clarke is a zealot when it comes to getting to a gym for a late-night shooting session. When the Bulldogs arrived here Tuesday, Clarke’s first order of business was to find a gym — Dunbar Community Center — where he shot for about 45 minutes.

“My dad rebounded and I did my nightly routine,’’ Clarke said.

* Alex Oriahki was the starting center on Connecticut’s 2010-11 national championship team. When the NCAA banned UConn from postseason play this year because it didn’t meet academic progress standards, Oriahki transferred to Missouri, where he was eligible to play immediately. The ninth-seeded Tigers drew No. 8 Colorado State.

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to end my career at UConn,’’ he said. “But I think it’s a blessing in disguise. Lot of people don’t get to transfer and play right away.

“I was fortunate with the opportunity, and I’ve been around a great coaching staff and great teammates. I feel they made me the offensive player that I never really thought I would be.’’

lenn.robbins@nypost.com