MU - Xavier

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

I think I could state the court is 94 feet long and you'd prance around shouting "agenda! agenda!". 

You would never make such a statement. It would be something along the lines of:

"The court in the sparkling Al McGuire Center, one of the top practice facilities in the country, is 94 feet long. This was a facility years in the making and, for some reason, was not built during the coaching careers of Kevin O'Neill or Mike Deane."

I'm absolutely stunned you can see your computer screen when your head is encased in Tom Crean's discarded leopard print bikini briefs.

[GGGG]

Back to the topic title, in my opinion Xavier is the better program in the last 15 years.

MU has reached higher peaks as it relates to accomplishments (Final Four) and hype (Dwyane Wade) but head-to-head Xavier blows MU out of the water in terms of NCAA Tournament appearances and achievements; NBA-produced players; Coaching talent, etc.

Which would you prefer though?  If you could go back 15 years, would you rather take the Final Four run and the disappointment that followed, or a handful of Sweet 16/Elite 8 appearances but no Final Four.

I'd take Marquette's last 15 years.  Wouldn't trade that Final Four for anything outside of a championship.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Two Elite 8 appearances might actually be better than one Final Four. It's debatable, especially given our performance in New Orleans.

[reinko]

I am blanking on XU players in the Association other than David West, who else??

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

From Google:

Braggs, Torraye 2003-
Chalmers, Lionel 2004-
Grant, Brian 1994-2005
Hawkins, Michael 1996-2000
Hill, Tyrone 1990-2003
Kimbrough, Stan 1989-1992
Posey, James 1999-2007
Strong, Derek 1991-2000
Sykes, Larry 1995-1995
West, David 2003-2007
Williams, Aaron 1993-2007

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Which would you prefer though?  If you could go back 15 years, would you rather take the Final Four run and the disappointment that followed, or a handful of Sweet 16/Elite 8 appearances but no Final Four.

I'd take Marquette's last 15 years.  Wouldn't trade that Final Four for anything outside of a championship.

That's a great point.

I'd argue that XU has been more successful on the whole, but I'm not sure I'd trade a final 4 for 2 or even 3 elite 8 appearances... so maybe MU has been better... hmmmm.

[Henry Sugar]

Which would you prefer though?  If you could go back 15 years, would you rather take the Final Four run and the disappointment that followed, or a handful of Sweet 16/Elite 8 appearances but no Final Four.

I'd take Marquette's last 15 years.  Wouldn't trade that Final Four for anything outside of a championship.

I'd rather have two Elite 8's and a handful of sweet 16's.  It's consistent success rather than a single run.  Since 2001, XU failed the make the tourney only once (8 of the past 9 years).  When they made it, they won their first game all but twice.  Then they have two Elite Eights and a Sweet Sixteen.

Consistent success.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

That's a great point.

I'd argue that XU has been more successful on the whole, but I'm not sure I'd trade a final 4 for 2 or even 3 elite 8 appearances... so maybe MU has been better... hmmmm.

So you'd rather have George Mason's results than those of Xavier?

[GGGG]

So you'd rather have George Mason's results than those of Xavier?

Yes.  I would.  Yeah we sucked in the Final Four, but I wouldn't trade the joy of the UK win for anything.  Two losses at that stage would be a big disappointment.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

So you'd rather have George Mason's results than those of Xavier?

Good point... i dunno.

But, the fact that george mason is now "on the map" is because of the final 4.

Multiple elite 8's probably wouldn't have done them as much good. But who knows?

Also, MU is not George Mason (a complete underdog from a small conference). MU has some tradition, so making the final 4 has a different impact on MU.

To be honest, I really don't know what I'd rather have... its an interesting discussion.

[UDfan]

After that Dayton game, I recall some on this board dismissing it as "one of those games." If you ask me, they were just a better team than we were last year.

After the Dayton Marquette game in December, I told you that you would not be embarassed to have lost to UD by the end of the season.  We will be just as good this coming year.  UD and X will probably be the teams to beat in the A10 this year, with about 3 other teams in contention.  The bottom of the A10 is weak, but there are usually about 8 teams that can give anyone a headache and a loss.  These are not names you hear much, but I think Richmond, Duquesne and LaSalle will all be dangerous next year.  Charlotte has some talent, and UMass and Temple will be a bit down.  Saint Joe's will be way down for a year or two, but they have good recruits on the way.  I think Saint Louis is on the cusp of getting good again.  They started from scratch when Majerus came, but he can recruit.  It just takes time for the recruits to mature.  Another year, and they will be contending in the A10, IMO.  Gregory is building something at Dayton.  As long as he is around, we are going to be making some noise.