Men's Basketball Enters Winter Break Ranked 5th Nationally
EL DORADO, Kan. – Butler men’s basketball is undefeated in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play entering the semester break at 7-0, and the NJCAA Division 1 poll voters have taken notice.
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EL DORADO, Kan. – Butler men's basketball is undefeated in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play entering the semester break at 7-0, and the NJCAA Division 1 poll voters have taken notice.
The Grizzlies are ranked fifth in the week six rankings, moving up three spots from No. 8 after getting two wins a week ago, at home vs. Colby and on the road at Independence. Butler has been ranked in all six polls this season.
The No. 5 ranking is Butler men's basketball's highest since the 2014-15 season when the Grizzlies checked in at No. 4 throughout the month of January.
The Grizzlies totaled 288 points in the poll and were slotted in behind No. 1 Snow, No. 2 New Mexico JC, No. 3 Trinity Valley and No. 4 Salt Lake CC. Fellow Jayhawk Conference member Cowley College sits right behind Butler at No. 6. Other Jayhawk schools in the rankings include Barton at 17 and Coffeyville at 23. Butler is 3-0 this season vs. other top-25 schools with wins over Indian Hills (No. 9), NEO A&M (No. 8) and Barton (No. 17).
Butler is 12-1 overall this season including 7-0 in conference play under first year head coach Eric Nitsche. They began conference play on Nov. 23rd vs. Pratt after suffering their lone loss of the season just three days prior in the home opener to NOC-Tonkawa. Following that the Grizzlies have ripped off seven consecutive wins and most recently defeated the Independence Pirates 95-91 on the road in the final game of the fall semester. They are one game behind Cowley (13-1, 8-0) in the KJCCC standings.
The last time the Grizzlies were off to a 7-0 or better start in conference play was the 2014-15 squad under Mike Bargen who got out to an 8-0 start and finished the season 29-4 overall, 14-2 in Jayhawk play and advanced to the NJCAA Tournament in Hutchinson.
The spring semester opens for Butler on Saturday, Jan. 4th, when No. 23 Coffeyville visits the Power Plant for a 4 p.m. tipoff.
Grizzly Rankings Week-by-Week
| Week # | Rank | Record | Points | Previous |
|
Preseason 10-21-24 |
N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
|
Week 1 11-12-24 |
#8 | 5-0 | 259 | N/A |
|
Week 2 11-18-24 |
#6 | 5-0 | 283 | #8 |
|
Week 3 11-25-24 |
#11 | 6-1 | 203 | #6 |
|
Week 4 12-2-24 |
#9 | 8-1 | 219 | #11 |
|
Week 5 12-9-24 |
#8 | 10-1 | 263 | #9 |
|
Week 6 12-16-24 |
#5 | 12-1 | 288 | #8 |