Rival?

A lot of time is spent trying to decide who Butler's "true rival" is. I'm not sure it'll ever be possible to land on a consistent answer here:

Is it Wright State? Raiders fans seem (from what I can tell online) to be delusional and have a serious case of Butler envy. The two schools are very close geographically.

Is it Cleveland State? Butler fans don't like them some Gary Waters. The two teams have played a few close games in the two years CSU has been good.

Is it UW-Oshkosh (I mean Milwaukee)? It may have been at one point, but recent mediocre UWM teams have killed the mood.

Essentially, Butler's rival turns out to be whoever is the second best team in the conference at that moment. It used to be UIC/Detroit, then Milwaukee when Bruce Pearl was there, then Cleveland State for a few months. Wright State is likely the answer if your arm was twisted and you had to pick one. And WSU has a good coach, good players (some from Indiana even), good facilities and virtually no academic requirements. That means they SHOULD be competitive. And they have been.

So why not name Wright State Butler's "rival"? Well, because the team will only be good as long as Brad Brownell is there. He's got that program consistently getting 20-22 wins a year. But when he leaves, they'll drop (see: Jeter, Rob and Milwaukee). And when that happens, whoever has a decent team will become Butler's new rival.

THOUGHTS ON FRIDAY'S GAME

• Strange that this game is on Friday and NOT on ESPNU. Instead, a brutal Detroit-Valparaiso game is on. That is the one important reason why the Horizon League is put down nationally. As a result, Butler wins games by double digits and still drops in the polls because of popular opinion. You want to showcase yourself? Put the best games/teams on.

• Wright State has a good team, but looked awful at Loyola and lost. They appear to be worse defensively than they have been in the past and Duggins isn't the same player he was two years ago.

• Troy Tabler has been Wright State's best player (maybe Todd Brown). I'm not sure he'd see many minutes on Butler's team. Maybe. But Butler has six players better than him.

• Butler needs to make shots. As soon as Matt Howard touches the ball, the double-team is coming. That's a given in every game they play that doesn't involve an athletic 7-footer. If Butler makes shots, they'll win by 12+.

My guess? Butler 73, Wright State 66. Just shy of 9K in attendance for the game (maybe Butler should get royalties). Gordon Hayward leads with 19. In Horizon League play, he might be a double-double machine.

GOOD FOR A LAUGH