Butler basketball players Mike Green (left) and Julian Betko go for the ball against Tennessee. The Bulldogs lost, but they went down fighting. (Heather Charles / The Indianapolis Star)

For years, my dad, who never went to college, was a diehard Indiana Hoosiers basketball fan. The Hoosiers were a hardworking blue-collar team my dad could get behind, helmed by a coach who insisted on precision from both his players and officials. If a player violated Bob Knight's wishes, he heard about it. Conversely, that same player could depend on Knight to fiercely defend his case against referees. It was a team for and of the ages -- one that appealed not just to my dad, but to a great number of Hoosiers without their own alma mater.

As we all know, the fire that burned in Knight's belly became too much for the old man to contain -- or for the more politically sensitive school administrators of the '90s to tolerate. After Knight got fired, IU basketball began its downward spiral from being a beloved tradition to a repository for talented but misguided players whose loyalty to a cheating coach resulted in one of the more heartless NCAA first-round losses in recent memory last Friday night.

Thankfully, another Central Indiana school has ascended at just the right time to take IU's place as the sentimental favorite of Indiana basketball fans who didn't attend a basketball school: the Butler Bulldogs.

The qualities that made IU worth rooting for -- selfless team play, its players' Indiana roots, the way they conduct themselves both on and off the court -- are now better exemplified by Butler than any other state team.

Sure, Butler lost last Sunday. But it lost valiantly, going toe to toe with the taller, stronger and more gifted Tennessee Volunteers until the last minute of overtime. Butler could have beaten not only Tennessee, but any other team in the tournament this year.

Meanwhile, the disjointed, undisciplined Hoosiers somehow made losing look even less dignified than it naturally should. True, they're playing for an interim coach (the venerable ex-Hoosier Dan Dakich), but that's no excuse for such a disgraceful showing.

The mascot may be the Bulldog, but Butler's spirit and toughness make them far worthier of the Hoosier name than the fractious group who represented IU last Friday. And for that, my dad and I are thankful.