Hey Students

[withoutbias]

1) Let's have a good turnout tomorrow. No letdown against Fresno. Protect the BC.

2) Let's have the BC rockin Saturday. Biggest game of the year. Show the Little 10 what Big East basketball is about.

Proposed chants:

When Nigel is at the line - "Broke! Broke! Broke!" Or "Broke athlete! Broke athlete!" Or "Venmo! Venmo!"

When Koenig is at the line - MUST get a "Snapchat! Snapchat!" chant going.

Sign ideas: a picture of Koenig with the Snapchat ghost. A picture of Koenig saying "Dicks out for Harambe." A picture of Koenig saying "Send nudes" and a picture of Hayes saying "Shot as broke as bank account."

[Johnny B]

I'm a student currently. I go to all the games. Is it just me or is student turnout very low thus year?? Id go to games 5-6 years ago and the students always filled the lower bull and went a tad into the upper. so far the lower bowl isn't even filled . is thus typical at this point in the season or is nobody showing up.. sad I wish more kids would go. the bb games are a blast

[#UnleashSean]

I'm a student currently. I go to all the games. Is it just me or is student turnout very low thus year?? Id go to games 5-6 years ago and the students always filled the lower bull and went a tad into the upper. so far the lower bowl isn't even filled . is thus typical at this point in the season or is nobody showing up.. sad I wish more kids would go. the bb games are a blast

1. Take a look at Marquette's record 5-6 years ago and who was on the team. Take a look at  Marquette's record in the previous 3 years. Basically everyone up to the Seniors has yet to see a year where Marquette has been competent. Only the few who grew up watching Marquette are really going to the games.

2. The student section almost always take's a hit around this time even when the team is great. Weaker buy teams + finals etc. Who wants to go see MU blow someone out by 50 when thats two hours of either Drinking or studying.

3. The conference turnout is also lower now because 5 of our 8 home games are St Johns, Depaul, Seton Hall, Butler, and Providence. 6 years ago that would have been Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Uconn, Louisville.  That'll give a hit on attendance anywhere.

[Marcus92]

3. The conference turnout is also lower now because 5 of our 8 home games are St Johns, Depaul, Seton Hall, Butler, and Providence. 6 years ago that would have been Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Uconn, Louisville.  That'll give a hit on attendance anywhere.

This is a fallacious argument. Three of the 5 current Big East teams mentioned above — St. John's, Seton Hall and Providence — are inaugural members of the conference. DePaul has been a member since 2005, eight years before the most recent realignment. The fifth team, Butler, is a Top 25 team this season.

In 2013, our 9-game home conference schedule included South Florida (ranked 141st by KenPom), DePaul (174th) and Seton Hall (117th). We didn't play Louisville, Cincinnati or Villanova at home. The season before we didn't play UConn, Syracuse  or West Virginia at home.

This year our home schedule will include the defending national champion (Nova, currently ranked #1 in the country), potentially 3 other Top 25 teams (Xavier, Butler and Creighton), a Top 50 team (Seton Hall), 2 top 100 teams (Providence, Georgetown) plus St. John's and DePaul. Butler and Creighton are rated higher than Notre Dame and Syracuse. Seton Hall is rated higher than Pittsburgh.

The level of competition in the Big East has not dropped off. It simply hasn't.

[brewcity77]

The level of competition in the Big East has not dropped off. It simply hasn't.

The problem is people only see the name on the front of the jersey. I've had this argument with people before...

Them: Villanova doesn't compare to Syracuse!
Me: No, Syracuse isn't nearly as good.

Them: Butler isn't Notre Dame!
Me: No, they're better.

Them: UConn and Pittsburgh were hugely successful programs.
Me: And now Creighton and Providence are eclipsing them.

Them: We had that great rivalry with Cincinnati!
Me: And now we have Xavier.

At the end of the day, the old league had more names. But they also had more crap. Sure, we have DePaul, but the old league had DePaul, USF, Rutgers, and Providence that were perennially bad. We pulled in about the same number of top tier opponents then as we do now, it's just that Creighton, Butler, and Xavier aren't as sexy as Louisville, Syracuse, and UConn, but the league is as good as there is in the country. The games are as good. The problem is our own team hasn't been.

[Buzz Williams' Spillproof Chiclets Cup]

This is a fallacious argument. Three of the 5 current Big East teams mentioned above — St. John's, Seton Hall and Providence — are inaugural members of the conference. DePaul has been a member since 2005, eight years before the most recent realignment. The fifth team, Butler, is a Top 25 team this season.

If anything, the suggestion that the Big East's inaugural members are inherently a draw is a fallacious argument. The fact that St. John's, Seton Hall, and Providence are inaugural members of the conference does not change the fact that they have been mostly terrible in recent memory, and do not carry the sex appeal that they would have 20 or 30 years ago. Since 1992, those three programs have combined for exactly three Sweet 16 appearances, the most recent of which occurred when this year's freshmen were toddlers, and this year's seniors were in kindergarten (PC 1997, St. John's 1999, Seton Hall 2000).

In 2013, our 9-game home conference schedule included South Florida (ranked 141st by KenPom), DePaul (174th) and Seton Hall (117th). We didn't play Louisville, Cincinnati or Villanova at home. The season before we didn't play UConn, Syracuse  or West Virginia at home.

You're cherry-picking, and seem to know it. The 2012-13 Big East Conference home schedule featured UConn, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Notre Dame. Four ranked teams came to the Bradley Center that year IN ADDITION TO Wisconsin. The 2011-12 Big East Conference home schedule was uncharacteristically soft, and still featured Villanova, Cincinnati, Louisville, Georgetown, and Pittsburgh. With that in recent memory, you can understand why people aren't as fired up to see Creighton or Butler.

This year our home schedule will include the defending national champion (Nova, currently ranked #1 in the country), potentially 3 other Top 25 teams (Xavier, Butler and Creighton), a Top 50 team (Seton Hall), 2 top 100 teams (Providence, Georgetown) plus St. John's and DePaul. Butler and Creighton are rated higher than Notre Dame and Syracuse. Seton Hall is rated higher than Pittsburgh.

Marquette had an ages-old rivalry with Notre Dame. MU doesn't with Butler. I don't hate Butler nearly as much as I hate Notre Dame. They are not the same, regardless of their "rating."

Marquette had some intense matchups with Pittsburgh in the Superconference era. Games felt like battles, and a rivalry based on real enmity was growing. In contrast, nobody cares about Seton Hall. Before last year, Seton Hall hadn't been to the NCAAs in a decade. Casual fans don't decide which games they'll attend by comparing KenPom ratings.

The level of competition in the Big East has not dropped off. It simply hasn't.

I agree to an extent. The Big East certainly has some good teams, but none that match the renown of the Superconference era save Villanova. Lest we forget, the Big East has only gotten two teams into the Sweet 16 since its reformation (2015 Xavier, 2016 Villanova).

The level of competition means nothing when MU has been in the wilderness since 2013. Winning draws fans.

[GGGG]

Wisconsin didn't fill its student section v. Syracuse last week.  Duke has had trouble filling out its student section.  This isn't simply an issue due to Marquette's record or the Big East.  Students would rather do something else.

[withoutbias]

Didn't mean to turn this into a "students these days suck!" Or a "back in my day!" Just wanted to throw out some suggestions and say, "big week ahead!"

[Marcus92]

If anything, the suggestion that the Big East's inaugural members are inherently a draw is a fallacious argument. The fact that St. John's, Seton Hall, and Providence are inaugural members of the conference does not change the fact that they have been mostly terrible in recent memory, and do not carry the sex appeal that they would have 20 or 30 years ago. Since 1992, those three programs have combined for exactly three Sweet 16 appearances, the most recent of which occurred when this year's freshmen were toddlers, and this year's seniors were in kindergarten (PC 1997, St. John's 1999, Seton Hall 2000).

The point was simple: as part of the Big East, our home conference schedule has always included both good (Nova, Xavier, UConn, Syracuse) and not-so-good (DePaul, St. John's, Providence, South Florida) teams.

You're cherry-picking, and seem to know it. The 2012-13 Big East Conference home schedule featured UConn, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Notre Dame. Four ranked teams came to the Bradley Center that year IN ADDITION TO Wisconsin. The 2011-12 Big East Conference home schedule was uncharacteristically soft, and still featured Villanova, Cincinnati, Louisville, Georgetown, and Pittsburgh. With that in recent memory, you can understand why people aren't as fired up to see Creighton or Butler.

Yes, the 2012-13 Big East conference home schedule featured four ranked teams in addition to Wisconsin. So will this year's: Nova, Xavier, Butler and Creighton.

Marquette had an ages-old rivalry with Notre Dame. MU doesn't with Butler. I don't hate Butler nearly as much as I hate Notre Dame. They are not the same, regardless of their "rating."

Marquette had some intense matchups with Pittsburgh in the Superconference era. Games felt like battles, and a rivalry based on real enmity was growing. In contrast, nobody cares about Seton Hall. Before last year, Seton Hall hadn't been to the NCAAs in a decade. Casual fans don't decide which games they'll attend by comparing KenPom ratings.

I agree to an extent. The Big East certainly has some good teams, but none that match the renown of the Superconference era save Villanova. Lest we forget, the Big East has only gotten two teams into the Sweet 16 since its reformation (2015 Xavier, 2016 Villanova).

Good points here. When MU joined the Big East, we didn't have established rivalries with teams like Pittsburgh — but great games helped energize the series. It will take some time for programs on the rise (like Butler, Creighton, Seton Hall and Providence) to reach the same level. But I'm confident they will.

The level of competition means nothing when MU has been in the wilderness since 2013. Winning draws fans.

This is an entirely different argument — and another good point.

[Badgerhater]

In 2013

Creighton was in the Missouri Valley
Xavier was in the Atlantic 10
Butler was doing its only year in the Atlantic 10 after coming from the Horizon. 

These teams are simply not on the big time college hoops radar of the casual college hoops fan.  Syracuse, Louisville and UCONN are -- they have cache' and name recognition that those other schools do not have.    These perceptions will change over time if BIG EAST teams do well and those previously mentioned powers decline.

Regarding St Johns, Providence, DePaul and Seton Hall.   I went to lots of those games during the old Big East days because as a Marquette fan I could get a great seat for a good price.  I could never touch those seats when Louisville or UCONN came to town.  The basketball wasn't always so good, but MU was usually going to get a win.   Now beating those at the bottom of the Big East is a crapshoot, which is a sad commentary on the state of MU hoops.  The conference appears to be improving at a faster pace than MU is as a team.

[warriorchick]

Didn't mean to turn this into a "students these days suck!" Or a "back in my day!" Just wanted to throw out some suggestions and say, "big week ahead!"

You obviously haven't been reading Scoop for very long.

[#UnleashSean]

The level of competition in the Big East has not dropped off. It simply hasn't.

That's not the issue. And you know it. Butler does not have the draw Syracuse does, don't try and pretend otherwise. The numbers don't lie.

[GGGG]

That's not the issue. And you know it. Butler does not have the draw Syracuse does, don't try and pretend otherwise. The numbers don't lie.

Well again, "the numbers" have multiple factors.  But more importantly, it doesn't matter.  Eventually people are going to get used to the new schools.  They really have no choice.  The BE isn't coming back as it was previously.  And Marquette was only a member of the OBE for *nine* seasons.  It's not as though it was some deep, long relationship and that this new conference is just ruins tradition.

[Marcus92]

The Marquette fans I know care about seeing MU play good teams. Period.

We've got the defending national champs and #1 ranked Villanova Wildcats coming to the Bradley Center, along with #10 Creighton, #14 Xavier, #15 Butler and #17 Wisconsin. Current rankings will change, of course — but that's a strong slate.

I wouldn't miss one of those games. I'd rather watch MU against any of those teams instead of Syracuse  or UConn, both unranked this season. Facing a "name" opponent means absolutely nothing to your RPI or the tournament selection committee. Games against Top 25 opponents matter.

[Galway Eagle]

Well again, "the numbers" have multiple factors.  But more importantly, it doesn't matter.  Eventually people are going to get used to the new schools.  They really have no choice.  The BE isn't coming back as it was previously.  And Marquette was only a member of the OBE for *nine* seasons.  It's not as though it was some deep, long relationship and that this new conference is just ruins tradition.

Well tradition is sort of relative to how memorable it was. Our time in the Old BE coincides with the second most successful 8 year stretch of basketball Marquette has ever had. Unfortunately our down year coincide with the leaving of the most traditionally great teams. There's too many variables to say that it's only because of the Blue bloods leaving that we're now so much worse with attendance.

[Skitch]

What is the story behind Koenig and snapchat?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

What is the story behind Koenig and snapchat?

There was a dick pic from him circling snapchat. He claims that it was someone pretending to be him online.

[GGGG]

Well tradition is sort of relative to how memorable it was. Our time in the Old BE coincides with the second most successful 8 year stretch of basketball Marquette has ever had.

Well that is false. 

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

My friend just sent me a pretty depressing photo about 15 minutes ago.

There were literally 5 people in the student section. If it wasn't on snapchat I would share it with you.

[Eldon]

1) Let's have a good turnout tomorrow. No letdown against Fresno. Protect the BC.

2) Let's have the BC rockin Saturday. Biggest game of the year. Show the Little 10 what Big East basketball is about.

Proposed chants:

When Nigel is at the line - "Broke! Broke! Broke!" Or "Broke athlete! Broke athlete!" Or "Venmo! Venmo!"

When Koenig is at the line - MUST get a "Snapchat! Snapchat!" chant going.

Sign ideas: a picture of Koenig with the Snapchat ghost. A picture of Koenig saying "Dicks out for Harambe." A picture of Koenig saying "Send nudes" and a picture of Hayes saying "Shot as broke as bank account."

[warriorchick]

My friend just sent me a pretty depressing photo about 15 minutes ago.

There were literally 5 people in the student section. If it wasn't on snapchat I would share it with you.

Well, unless he took it at 6:00, it isn't accurate.

[brewcity77]

My friend just sent me a pretty depressing photo about 15 minutes ago.

There were literally 5 people in the student section. If it wasn't on snapchat I would share it with you.

Your friend's picture is abject crap.

Check my Twitter @brewcity77 for an accurate pic of the student section. It's not full, but "literally 5" has been literally false all night.

[tower912]

Hey student

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

My friend just sent me a pretty depressing photo about 15 minutes ago.

There were literally 5 people in the student section. If it wasn't on snapchat I would share it with you.

I hope that's not true.  I was there in the Dukiet years and the student section was still full.

[Herman Cain]

I'm a student currently. I go to all the games. Is it just me or is student turnout very low thus year?? Id go to games 5-6 years ago and the students always filled the lower bull and went a tad into the upper. so far the lower bowl isn't even filled . is thus typical at this point in the season or is nobody showing up.. sad I wish more kids would go. the bb games are a blast

Glad you support the team Johnny. We need more kids like you. When the team starts winning again the place will be packed. 5-6 years ago we had DJO and Jae etc those guys were fun to watch.