The city of New Orleans is known for its infamous Mardi Gras celebration each year, and although head coach Bo Ryan and his players are still dancing in this year's NCAA Tournament, don't expect any early celebrations.
The Badgers are preparing to take on No. 8 seed Butler Thursday night in the Southeast Regional Semifinals in the Big Easy. Despite the Bulldogs' lower seeding and Horizon League roots, Wisconsin is not taking victory over last year's national runner-up for granted.
""I think Butler has won not because people have underestimated them,"" Ryan said. ""I disagree with that because coaches and players are pretty astute when it comes to recognizing success and what people do to get there. So I really don't think they've been underestimated.""
Butler, who finished second in the Horizon, is a team similar to Wisconsin in that they both focus on defense and taking care of the ball. Bulldog head coach Brad Stevens has built his team around recruiting average athletes, much like Ryan, and creating chemistry to produce success.
Despite competing in a mid-major conference, Butler has separated itself once again as a national power this year. But after dominating the Horizon League in 2010 they struggled this season, going 13-5, and had to defeat UW-Milwaukee in the conference championship to earn their fifth consecutive NCAA tournament bid.
""Obviously they're a team that was here in this position last year,"" senior forward Keaton Nankivil said. ""You just get the feeling that nothing is going to rattle them so we're going to have to play a pretty solid game and do whatever we do well in order to win this one.""
In four seasons, the 35 year-old Stevens has compiled a 114-24 record and took Butler to its first Final Four.
""There's a guy that got an opportunity and he's putting the pedal to the metal,"" Ryan said. ""The important thing as a coach is you see the game a certain way, your players have to see it that way. And he's done that with his teams.""
On the other hand, Ryan has advanced to his fourth Sweet 16 since becoming head coach for the Badgers in 2001.
Ryan has never battled with Butler since joining UW, but is still familiar with the Bulldog program. Ryan went 0-5 against Butler during his two seasons as head coach at UW-Milwaukee, and the Butler program was under a different coach then, Ryan has gained mutual respect for Butler.
""[Stevens] is in a program where assistants took over the head job because they were successful,"" Ryan said. ""That's a pretty good thing to have at an institution where you have that trust factor in the so?called family of coaches. It's a good situation where basketball is extremely important at Butler ... and it's a great environment.""
Despite the comfort of being one of a handful of teams still competing, Ryan's ultimate goal lies in Houston and the Final Four, a stage he has yet to obtain in his career.
""There's 16 of us left, we'll see what four end up there,"" Ryan said. ""Obviously that's what everybody is trying to do. It would be nice to get there.""
