Not so long ago, having Butler and Xavier among the last 16 teams in the NCAA tournament would have spawned feel-good stories about the plucky mid-major conferences and the wonderful hoops democracy that is March Madness.

This year, those teams barely caused a buzz outside their own campuses, mostly because they're regulars at a party with a rather eclectic guest list.

It starts with No. 9 Northern Iowa, the team that sent tournament favorite Kansas packing.

There's No. 12 Cornell, pushing the Ivy League as far in the tournament as its been since 1979.

There's No. 11 Washington, a familiar name that was underrated because the Pac-10 had a dreadful year.

There's No. 10 Saint Mary's, a team that won its conference tournament simply to get in, then validated that with two more victories.

How's that for some good underdog stories?

"I think we get underestimated night in, night out," said Saint Mary's big man Omar Samhan. "It's hilarious and we love it. We like that people underestimate ourselves night after night. We don't look like much. We don't pass the eye test but we know what it takes to win."

As do No. 5 Butler and No. 6 Xavier — two of five mid-major teams to advance to the second weekend. But this was no big surprise. Butler is in its third regional semifinal in eight years, while Xavier joined Michigan State as the only two programs to make the second weekend for three straight seasons.

"I know I'm not taking it for granted and I know my teammates aren't taking it for granted," said Xavier's Jordan Crawford, the sophomore who dunked on LeBron James in high school in what quickly turned into a viral video. "I love the fact I'm getting a chance to do this and hopefully we can take it further."

Americans love underdogs, but many fans who filled out brackets suffered after this kind of uprising.

President Barack Obama was one of more than 2 million — that's 42.7 percent — who picked the Jayhawks to win in their ESPN brackets and now find themselves more or less relegated to also-rans. ESPN said there were no perfect brackets and only four of 4.78 million entries contained 15 of the 16 remaining teams.

Among those joining Kansas on the sideline: No. 2 Villanova, No. 3 Georgetown and No. 3 Pittsburgh, three of six Big East teams to go out. Last year's national champion, North Carolina, didn't even make the tournament, which leaves Michigan State, a No. 5 seed in the Midwest, as the only remaining program from last year's Final Four.

Replacing Kansas as the odds-on favorite is Kentucky, which breezed through its two games and is listed at 2-1 in Vegas to win the title.