ALBANY, N.Y. - By now, in the second week of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, Butler's Darnell Archey has heard enough comparisons to the tiny Indiana high school that inspired the basketball movie classic Hoosiers.
But when a bus driver taking the Bulldogs to the Pepsi Arena yesterday began pointing out the "skyscrapers" of Albany, it was almost too much for Archey to endure.
"He was talking about how big the city of Albany was," Archey said. "I wanted to say, `We're from Indianapolis; it might be a little bit bigger than Albany.' He might have thought we were from Milan."
Like it or not, Butler is trying to emulate Milan - the tiny Indiana school that won a high school state championship long ago - in the East Regional here. Indeed, when the 12th-seeded Bulldogs (27-5) play top-seeded Oklahoma (26-6) in an East semifinal tonight, they will be big underdogs and sentimental favorites.
If Cinderella's slipper fits, Butler is more than willing to wear it.
"I'd much rather be dealing with the Cinderella tag than be tagged the team that got snubbed," said Butler center Joel Cornette. "Hopefully, we'll keep dancing all the way to the French Quarter in New Orleans. We've got a lot of work to do until then. We really don't want to take this slipper off yet."
Two wins in Albany as the lowest surviving seed in the field of 65 will send Butler to New Orleans as the first team from a mid-major conference to reach the Final Four. To do that, the Bulldogs not only will have to beat Oklahoma, but also the winner of tonight's second game between third-seeded Syracuse (26-5) and 10th-seeded Auburn (23-11).
But then, look who they've already upset: fifth-seeded Mississippi State and fourth-seeded Louisville.
Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson protests that the Cinderella label doesn't do Butler justice.
"I can see Cinderella beating Mississippi State, but Cinderella doesn't come back 24 hours later and beat Louisville," Sampson said. "Butler is almost a victim of its own success. They have a great system and four seniors who have won over 100 games in their careers."
Butler vs. Oklahoma - Horizon League vs. Big 12 - is not the mismatch it would seem. The game likely will be decided by Oklahoma's defense vs. Butler's three-point shooters.
Brandon Miller, the catalyst and point guard in Butler's spread-the-floor system, is shooting .433 from the arc. Archey, who finished Louisville by hitting eight of nine three-point attempts, is shooting .406.
