Rankings by ESPN 's Andy Katz and Fox Sports ' Jeff Goodman released shortly after the 2010 Championship game both had Butler third for the 2010 – 2011 season . Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski agreed , saying Butler would be " right up there , No. 1 or No. 2 ... They 'll be a favorite next year . " However , Hayward chose to leave early for the NBA Draft and Butler went through a rough patch early in the season , at one point losing three straight games and having a 6 – 5 conference record . Bolstered by the emergence of Andrew Smith at center and Matt Howard 's success as a perimeter forward , Butler ended up winning a share of the conference title at 13 – 5 . The Bulldogs then won the Horizon League Tournament to secure an automatic NCAA tournament bid , and received an 8 seed .