RALEIGH, N.C. – Don’t credit or blame the NCAA selection committee for this pairing of Virginia and Butler. The pathway to this game between college basketball elites can be traced back more than 20 years ago to a summer retreat in Wisconsin.
The No. 1-seeded Cavaliers (27-7) play the No. 9-seeded Bulldogs (22-10) on Saturday night in the Midwest Regional. Winner advances to the Sweet Sixteen in Chicago.
Butler’s rise in the 2000s has been attributed to “The Butler Way,” a philosophy featuring five biblical pillars: humility, passion, unity, servanthood and thankfulness. Virginia players had those same five words sewn into collars of their uniforms during the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.