The count down begins once you move in to your dorm or Greek House for the semester. You begin waiting for the day your calendar marks November. You have check points throughout the semester that let you know it is getting closer. The end of September...only one month away, fall break... only two weeks away, Halloween? OMG the first game is finally today!

That’s right it’s college basketball season yet again!

Here in the state of Indiana basketball is a lot more than a sport… it’s a religion and that’s no exception at Butler! Although we aren’t a huge university, we sure do know how to show some Bulldog Spirit in Hinkle Fieldhouse!

You can feel the energy change throughout campus. Everything feels more alive. Students rushing to pack Dawg Pound and hopefully get a good spot to stand because every Butler fan knows we don’t sit in the Dawg Pound. Buying the latest new apparel in the bookstore to wear to this week’s game.

Stalking twitter updates from @ButlerAthletics to see if anything is being given away this week will soon consume your time. Obsessing over what time the tickets for the next slate of games will be released (especially if we are playing Villanova or Georgetown in the coming weeks) because if you miss that game you will be the only student on campus not there.

Butler during basketball season is a completely different school. Under the roof of Hinkle everyone is brought together. Whether it is cheering on the Bulldogs or heckling Xavier, we are all there for the sole purpose of watching Butler win! We wait outside in the snow for two hours just to get into the Nova game, and scream the Butler Fight song at least 10 times throughout the duration of the game.

Where else will you find students praying that they get picked to be the student who holds the bone for Trip? Even though there is a good possibility he might rip your arm off if you don’t let go of the bone quick enough.

It’s all in the name of school spirit, bulldog pride, and Hinkle Magic.