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“We want to try to limit the distractions, but we don’t want to take away this Final Four experience. They’ve earned this,” Stevens said. “To be Downtown, to be with teammates the whole time. Plus, there are so many things we have to be at every day, it would probably be more tiring driving back and forth all the time.”

And that makes sense, because while Butler’s campus isn’t exactly known for its “Animal House” atmosphere, it’s going to get as crazy as things ever get around there. Everything changed that Saturday in Salt Lake City.

“My first class Monday was Spanish at 9 a.m.,” guard Shawn Vanzant said. “I walked into class and they gave me a standing ovation. My teacher was saying something in Spanish, but I couldn’t make out a lot of the words.”

Como se dice ‘Final Four’ en espanol?

“I’m not really sure how you’d say it,” Vanzant said. “But I’m getting an A in the class.”

Matt Howard didn’t get quite the hero’s welcome when he walked into his 11 a.m. investments class. His professor noted, though, that Howard was at the top of the earnings list in a simulated investment game with fake money.

“I made a high-risk investment in oil, which really wasn’t the smartest thing, but it paid off big,” he said. “My professor asked me, ‘Which is more exciting, going to the Final Four or being at the top of the class?’ “

As much as possible, Stevens is trying to keep a regular routine for his coaches and players, which is both well-intentioned and completely hopeless.

There is nothing normal about Butler being in the Final Four.

There is nothing normal about having practice end at 7:45 a.m., only to see about 40 media people (roughly 39 more than usual) waiting to ask questions. (For the record, there is nothing normal about media people being awake at 7:45.)

There is nothing normal about playing in front of 70,000 people, especially when Butler averages fewer than 7,000 fans per game at Hinkle.

Consider Stevens’ schedule Tuesday:

He held the usual 6:30 a.m. practice, did media for about two hours (along with players who didn’t have morning classes), then did hits on “First Take,” ESPN News, “Pardon the Interruption,” “The Dan Patrick Show,” a shoot with CBS and another show on CBS radio. Oh, and then there was a 4 p.m. news conference with more media. (If you want to know about Stevens, consider, on Monday, he did the student radio station at his alma mater, DePauw.)

They are trying desperately to keep it normal, to keep it real.

Yeah, good luck with that.