Hail to the King

In the late 1990's and early 2000's, Gonzaga captivated the nation with back-to-back-to-back Cinderella runs in the NCAA Tournament to the Elite 8 (1999 as a #10 seed) and the Sweet 16 (2000 as a #10 seed, 2001 as a #12 seed). They have made the NCAA Tournament in every year since, winning 263 games in the process, to become known as the preeminent mid-major power in college hoops.

However, following an upset of another top-seed to secure their fourth Sweet 16 appearance in their last six Tournament trips, Butler has surpassed Gonzaga as the king of mid-major hoops. Let me preface this by saying that I don't often count Xavier, from what is historically a multi-bid Atlantic 10 conference, as a mid-major. That term is reserved for teams from leagues that generally send just one team to the NCAA Tournament, ala the West Coast and Horizon (Mountain West wouldn't count).

When you look at the comparison between Gonzaga and Butler over the last decade, it's barely a comparison at all. Despite accruing more bluechip talent, the Zags' Tournament results just haven't stacked up against Butler's.

NCAA TOURNAMENT
Gonzaga hasn't really done anything since making their third straight run to the NCAA Tournament's second weekend in 2001. Since '01, Gonzaga has defeated the following teams in the Tournament:

Gonzaga Tourney wins since 2002:
#8 Cincinnati*
#15 Valparaiso
#14 Winthrop
#14 Xavier
#6 Indiana
#13 Akron
#12 Western Kentucky
#9 Florida State
#6 St. John's*
*win against a higher-seeded team

Gonzaga has beaten only two higher-seeded teams in the last decade, with no wins over a seed better than a 6. Five of their nine Tournament wins have come against a seed #12 or lower. Not very impressive at all. They went to the Sweet 16 twice, beating a 14 and 6 as a 3-seed in 2006, and a 13 and 12 as a 4 seed in 2009.

Gonzaga Tourney losses since 2002:
2002: lost to #11 Wyoming by 7
2003: lost to #1 Arizona by 1 in OT
2004: lost to #10 Nevada by 19
2005: lost to #6 Texas Tech by 2
2006: lost to #2 UCLA by 2
2007: lost to #7 Indiana by 13
2008: lost to #10 Davidson by 6
2009: lost to #1 North Carolina by 21
2010: lost to #1 Syracuse by 22
2011: lost to #3 BYU by 23

When matched-up against top-level competition, Gonzaga hasn't even been close. Their last three Tournament exits have all come in blowout fashion. This decade they've lost to four teams seeded below them (11, 10, 6, 10), and are just 2-6 against higher-seeded teams. Who has Gonzaga really beaten/pushed in the Tournament in the last decade outside of the OT loss to top-seeded Arizona in '03? Just in the last four years, Butler has defeated the outright Big East regular season champion (both as #1 seeds), defeated #2 seed Kansas State, and took #2 seed Tennessee to double overtime in 2008. Take a look:

Butler Tournament wins since 2002:
#5 Mississippi State*
#4 Louisville*
#12 Old Dominion
#4 Maryland*
#10 South Alabama
#12 UTEP
#13 Murray State
#1 Syracuse*
#2 Kansas State*
#5 Michigan State
#9 Old Dominion
#1 Pittsburgh*

Butler Tournament losses since 2002:
2003: lost to #1 Oklahoma by 11
2007: lost to #1 Florida by 8
2008: lost to #2 Tennessee by 5 in OT
2009: lost to #8 LSU by 4
2010: lost to #1 Duke by 2

In their six Tournament appearances this decade, Butler has been eliminated by three #1s and a #2 by an average of just over six points per contest. That's a lot less than the 20+ point beatdowns that have been handed out to Gonzaga over the past few years. Butler has advanced to the Sweet 16 four times in their past six Tourney trips as a #12, #5, #5, and #8. Gonzaga has only made it to the second weekend as a #3 or a #4 in their last ten appearances. Also, Butler is 7-5 this past decade against teams that are either seeded higher than them or on their same seed-line (Michigan State, Final Four '10). Compare that to the Zags' 2-6 mark.

TALENT
Despite Gonzaga becoming a national player when it comes to top recruits, acquiring talent hasn't really paid off for them. Meanwhile, Butler is just starting to scratch the surface with their last few classes.

National Top 150 recruits since 2002:
Gonzaga (12): Josh Heytvelt #120 (2004), David Pendergraft #147 (2004), Jeremy Pargo #105 (2005), Matt Bouldin #45 (2006), Theo Davis #39 (2006), Austin Daye #25 (2007), Robert Sacre #102 (2007), Steven Gray #64 (2007), Grant Gibbs #118 (2008), Demetri Goodson #132 (2008), Mangisto Arop #88 (2009), Sam Dowyer #116 (2009)
Butler (3): Nick Brooks #124 (2003), Matt Howard #91 (2007), Khyle Marshall #118 (2010), Crishawn Hopkins #124 (2010).

Rivals.com three-star or better recruits:
Gonzaga (18): Derek Raivio (2003), Joao Batistia (2004), Heytvelt, Pendergraft, Pargo, Mamery Diallo (2005), Bouldin, Davis, Daye, Sacre, Gray, Gibbs, Goodson, Andy Poling (2008), Arop, Dower, GJ Vilarno (2009), Keegan Hyland (2010)
Butler (9): Brooks, Zach Hahn (2007), Howard, Gordon Hayward (2008), Shelvin Mack (2008), Ronald Nored (2008), Andrew Smith (2009), Marshall, Hopkins.

NBA Players:
Gonzaga (5): Dan Dickau, Adam Morrison, Blake Stepp, Austin Daye, Ronny Turiaf
Butler (1): Gordon Hayward

Gonzaga has gotten high-profile talent, but it hasn't been able to translate for them. Butler has had one pro (Hayward) as of now, and one Top 100 National recruit (Howard), yet they've outperformed Gonzaga in March.

The two schools have combined for 508 wins in the last decade, with either a regular season or Conference Tournament title (or both) in 17 of the 20 combined seasons. Both Gonzaga and Butler have carried the torch for all mid-major hoops programs. But, Butler has been doing more of the heavily lifting lately.