The Butler Bulldogs are in their 10th NCAA Tournament in 12 years. It's almost automatic that this proud program out of Indianapolis gets a ticket to the Big Dance.

But with that comes an annual lament: one of the most popular live mascots in college sports is shunned from attending the games, per an NCAA mandate. No. 10 Butler plays No. 2 Purdue in the second round Sunday, but Blue III won't be in the building. 

A reminder about this unfortunate canine exclusion was posted to Twitter on the bulldog's official account. Here Butler Blue III is right outside the arena the day before the game -- and frankly looking demoralized. That face!

What gives? Why no live animals in the arena, when obviously you see them there during the regular season all the time? 

The NCAA cites logistical issues with space and the number of media and other working personnel at these games. In particular, the first round of the tournament is a big shuffle in and out of the main level of the arena and through all the hallways in the bowels of the building. So it's not just the first or second game of the tournament. Any NCAA Tournament game that happens in an arena -- as opposed to the Final Four, which is in a dome -- can't have live mascots. 

"While the NCAA men's basketball championship policy does not allow live mascots to attend games, schools can request an exception for the mascots to be present during the Final Four," an NCAA spokesperson told CBS Sports. "The policy is in place due to limited space and tight turnaround at venues with multiple sessions in the preliminary rounds."

Also, to be fair, this dog ralphed on the court right before a Big East tournament game a few years back. I know because I was there and wrote about it. Trip just yakked all over the hardwood. Problematic, obviously.

Still, the fella is making the rounds in Detroit.