Butler University will join the Atlantic 10 Conference beginning with the 2013-2014 season, President James M. Danko announced today.
The move will cover all Butler athletic teams except football, which will remain in the Pioneer League, and woman’s golf. The Atlantic 10 adds a recently historically successful men’s basketball program in Butler to their conference. The only non big six conference to have 41 at-large NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament selections in the past 20 years, including three in 2012, the A-10 has boasted 62 postseason appearances in the last decade.
For the fifth year in a row, the Atlantic 10 Conference earned at least three bids and multiple at-large bids into the NCAA Tournament. Over the last six years, the Atlantic 10 has had 12 at-large selections – the seventh most among all other Division I conferences. A record eight A-10 institutions received
invitations to the 2012 NCAA and NIT postseason tournaments, more than all but two conferences.
Horizon League commissioner Jon LeCrone released a statement today on the defection of Butler, here’s an excerpt:
“This morning, I was informed by President James Danko of Butler’s decision to withdraw from the Horizon League and affiliate with another conference. The Horizon League is among 25 NCAA Division I conferences whose membership has been impacted by realignment over the past two years.
“We are proud of the role the Horizon League played in providing a platform for Butler to significantly improve its athletics programs and achieve the highest level of national competitiveness in men’s basketball.
“We are committed to sustaining those same opportunities for all League members. Under the leadership of our board of directors, we have an aggressive growth agenda which has been in the planning stages for some time.”
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