Even though Midnight Madness is still more than three months away, here's a marquee non-conference matchup worthy of some early buzz.
Butler and Gonzaga will begin a home-and-home series next December.
According to the Indianapolis Star, Butler will travel to Spokane for a Dec. 20 matchup next season, then will host Gonzaga the following year. It's a series sure to draw plenty of attention and a large national TV audience since the Zags and Bulldogs have established themselves as two of the nation's premier giant killers.
In the past 15 seasons, Butler has made 10 NCAA tournaments, four Sweet 16s and the past two national title games. Gonzaga, by contrast, has earned an NCAA tournament berth each of the past 13 years and won or shared the past 11 West Coast Conference championships.
The only time in their histories the two schools have met was the 2007 Preseason NIT title game won 79-71 by Butler behind 26 points from guard A.J. Graves. It would appear to be the Zags who will have an advantage in talent next season, though it's certainly never wise to count Butler out.
Gonzaga returns the core of a frontcourt that sparked a late-season resurgence a year ago and adds several talented backcourt recruits to solidify the point guard position and replace off guard Steven Gray. On the other hand, Butler must rely on young players such as Khyle Marshall to replace Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard, two of the stars of the Bulldogs' back-to-back Final Four teams.
For the Zags, Butler serves as a tasty replacement for Memphis, which had gone 5-1 against Gonzaga the past six years. In typical Gonzaga fashion, the Zags are replacing one difficult opponent with another who won't be any less challenging.
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