LEXINGTON, Ky. – Before Butler can move forward, it has a date with its past.

Card-carrying members of the college basketball elite after joining the Big East on Wednesday, the sixth-seeded Bulldogs (26-8) are long removed from their days as the cute and cuddly upset specialists in the NCAA tournament. That role now belongs to the likes of Bucknell, which faces Butler in the NCAA tournament's East Region today.

"Butler really kind of set the gold standard, in my mind, for preparation and attention to detail and being the team that doesn't beat itself," Bucknell coach Dave Paulsen said. "That's kind of how we've tried to model our program."