The Bulldogs won the 2010 Horizon League Men 's Basketball Tournament to receive the Horizon 's automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Men 's Division I Basketball Tournament , earning a 5 seed in the West Region . They defeated 12 seed UTEP and 13 seed Murray State to advance to the Sweet Sixteen . The team next defeated 1 seed Syracuse to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history , and then defeated 2 seed Kansas State to earn their first Final Four appearance in school history . They were only the second team from a mid-major conference to " officially " advance that far in the tournament since UNLV made the Final Four in 1991
2010 Horizon League Men 's Basketball Tournament
2010 Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament
2009–10 Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team