Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Wednesday, March 31, 2010
(INDIANAPOLIS, IN) - For the second straight year, the Horizon League is the official host of the Final Four. But thanks to Butler, this year the conference is crashing its own party.
Commissioner Jon Lecrone and his staff were hard at work with the NCAA and the local organizing committee on getting ready for the big dance -- until Horizon Champion Butler's first-ever Final Four trip diverted the conference to helping the university field a flood of phone calls.
There's a reward for the extra work. Under NCAA revenue sharing rules, the Final Four trip means an extra $6-million dollars or so for the conference over the next six years. All schools get a share of the NCAA's TV deal with CBS, but the more games you win in the tournament, the more money for your conference.
The Bulldogs are the first Horizon team to reach the Final Four. Loyola was still an independent when it won the championship in 1963.
The Horizon League formed in 1979 as the Midwestern Cities Conference. It changed its name in 2001.
The University of Detroit, also a Horizon member, was the host of last year's Final Four, played at Ford Field.
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