Nice ...see my prediction
I am happy to be proven wrong on this one ;D ... though I do like flying under the radar. I realize we haven't played the highest quality opponent but I guess it's tough to fly under the radar when you are 5-0 in the best conference ever assembled.
Coaches Poll
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/polls/coaches/
hey, the question of wether we are really the #10 team in the country or not is pointless. Some can reference our RPI, well so what Look at UNC's or Wake or alot of other one's with high differentials. Have we played a relatively easy BE schedule? Sure. But so waht the notoriety is great. Do you think we are using this to our advantage with people such as Jamil Wilson, Sharrod Wright and Riley?, it sure as heck cant hurt. Also, as far as the schedule is concerned, we have done waht we needed to do. Most importantly we have won two winnable road games. Any time you look at a BE road schedule there are only 3-4 wins you can realistically hope for and we are 2-0 in that regard. Compare that to ND's road loss at St. Johns and other teams stumbles. We are in good shape.
Big East has 4 of the top 10 and 8 of the top 21.
Wake Forest deservedly leap frogged Duke to number 1.
Big East and ACC has 4 of the top 10.
Big East has 8 in the top 25.
Quote from: marqptm on January 19, 2009, 11:52:01 AM
Big East and ACC has 4 of the top 10.
Big East has 8 in the top 25.
just to clarify, acc and big east EACH has 4 in the top 10, taking 8 of the 10 spots total.
only others are big 12 (oklahoma) and big 10 (Mich St.)
We were only 3 votes away from being number 9.
Awesome...I wonder if it'll be the same in the AP poll as well
Interestingly enough, Bracketology now has us as a # 3 seed and has us getting the automatic champion's bye into the tourney.
Quote from: ATWizJr on January 19, 2009, 12:27:28 PM
Interestingly enough, Bracketology now has us as a # 3 seed and has us getting the automatic champion's bye into the tourney.
That's based on who the number 1 team in the conference is at the time of that compilation. They had UWM in as the automatic bid from the Horizon League as well last week because they had the best conference record up to that point.
Quote from: CTWarrior on January 19, 2009, 11:48:34 AM
Big East has 4 of the top 10 and 8 of the top 21.
Wake Forest deservedly leap frogged Duke to number 1.
+1
again people can debate whether Wake is the #1 team if they want but as far as polls go Wake should be ranked #1
#11 in the AP poll.
Isn't this the third year in a row we have been ranked in the top ten at least at one point. Not sure.
Awesome. Any Mr. Hayward, see my prediction too :-) Happy to be right on this one, and even though we are #11 in AP, since we are only 3 points from being #9 in the Coaches poll, I'm counting that as a #10 overall.
Ahoya!
I do think we could beat Clemson, their shooting isn't good enough.
I think we could probably beat Syracuse too although Onuaku would probably get 300 rebounds.
Look for MU to rise higher in the polls next week after 'Cuse loses to PItt and UNC unfortunately beats Clemson
Quote from: KCMarq09 on January 19, 2009, 02:00:14 PM
Isn't this the third year in a row we have been ranked in the top ten at least at one point. Not sure.
Yes the Wiki knows all
2006-2007- Week 3- 8/9
http://wiki.muscoop.com/doku.php/men_s_basketball/2006#week_by_week_media_rankings
2007-2008- Weeks 1,5,6,8 (AP ONLY)- #10
http://wiki.muscoop.com/doku.php/men_s_basketball/2007#media_rankings
2008-2009- Week 10 (#10/11)
http://wiki.muscoop.com/doku.php/men_s_basketball/2008#week_by_week_media_rankings
i'm scared poopless of cuse. I think we match up with them worse than any other team in the conference. they have balanced scoring, the athletes to keep up with our guards, and a dominant big man in Onoaku, who is ridiculously underrated nationally. Rick Jackson is also 10 times better than any of our bigs. At least we get them at home.
They do really have some big "bigs". I think Lazar could be a mismatch for them however because the bigs would have to guard him and he is a little quicker, especially out by the 3. Nonetheless, I could see Wes having a big game though because of his ability to get to the basket. I would like to see him drive and draw some fouls and try to take Onuaku out of the game.
But seriously, have you seen Onuaku free throws? Burke and Otule should have not excuse but to foul out in that game just so Onuaku gets to the free throw line and misses pretty much every one.
My opinion tends to change on a weekly basis, which I suppose is a testament to the Conference, but this week I think Syracuse just may be the team to beat in the BE. Really looking forward to tonight's game to see how the two teams match up, and also see how Pitt responds to the loss Saturday.
Our ranking is a product of our schedule. I'd be willing to wager that lots of teams behind us (UCLA, Xavier, Georgetown, and Texas, to name a few) would be 16-2 or better if they had played our schedule up to now. We have eight remaining games that are IMO more difficult than any game we have played so far (at Villanova, Georgetown, at Georgetown, UConn, Syracuse, at Louisville, at Notre Dame, at Pittsburgh). If we were truly the number 10 team in the country it would be reasonable to expect us to go at least 4-4 in those games. I think most of us would sign up right now for three of them and I expect us to only win 1 or 2. At any rate, those 8 games will tell us what we are more than anything we have done up until now.
Our record is a product of our schedule, but I like the way the season goes as far as proving where we stand in the Big East. There are ten pretty good teams. As far as assigning spots 8, 9, 10 in conference, we went out and beat Providence, WVU, and Villanova. Now, we progress to play Georgetown and Notre Dame in the next two weeks to see where we stand as for as the 5, 6, or 7 spot in the conference. If we pass that test, then we play the big dogs at the end to see who is really in the top 5. It's a fun way to look at the season. Hopefully we pass the middle of the conference test against GU at home and at ND to put us in top dog spots in the conference.
Quote from: HoopsMalone on January 19, 2009, 03:32:59 PM
Our record is a product of our schedule, but I like the way the season goes as far as proving where we stand in the Big East. There are ten pretty good teams. As far as assigning spots 8, 9, 10 in conference, we went out and beat Providence, WVU, and Villanova. Now, we progress to play Georgetown and Notre Dame in the next two weeks to see where we stand as for as the 5, 6, or 7 spot in the conference. If we pass that test, then we play the big dogs at the end to see who is really in the top 5. It's a fun way to look at the season. Hopefully we pass the middle of the conference test against GU at home and at ND to put us in top dog spots in the conference.
Again...Allow me to reiterate the importance of not overlooking DePaul on Saturday!
Quote from: mosarsour on January 19, 2009, 04:16:15 PM
Again...Allow me to reiterate the importance of not overlooking DePaul on Saturday!
Well I think Buzz does a pretty good job of keeping the team focused, but again, let's not pretend that we're part of the team and we can't look past a game against one of the worst teams in the BEast and speculate about the rest of the season. I'm pretty sure that doing that won't have an effect on the team's preparation for DePaul.
Quote from: mosarsour on January 19, 2009, 04:16:15 PM
Again...Allow me to reiterate the importance of not overlooking DePaul on Saturday!
and allow me to reiterate that as fans we can overlook whoever we want, as long as the players don't.
Quote from: mosarsour on January 19, 2009, 04:16:15 PM
Again...Allow me to reiterate the importance of not overlooking DePaul on Saturday!
What on Earth is it about DePaul that has you worried? Is it the way they almost beat Morgan State? The way they took care of Liberty by 1? They are easily the worst team in the conference and we are getting them at home! I am as pessimistic as they come and I can't see how we don't win this game by double digits. Maybe at their place they could pull the upset, but no way in Milwaukee.
As long as MU shows up to the Bradley Center Saturday, the DPU game is a win.
Quote from: CTWarrior on January 19, 2009, 04:57:39 PM
What on Earth is it about DePaul that has you worried? Is it the way they almost beat Morgan State? The way they took care of Liberty by 1? They are easily the worst team in the conference and we are getting them at home! I am as pessimistic as they come and I can't see how we don't win this game by double digits. Maybe at their place they could pull the upset, but no way in Milwaukee.
that's exactly what it is. They are SO bad that it's a trap game. I expect us to win and to win handily. However, after watching the way we came back against Providence, I'd say there's about a 98% chance we win the game here and win it easily. (there are no absolutes in sports)
Quote from: mosarsour on January 19, 2009, 04:16:15 PM
Again...Allow me to reiterate the importance of not overlooking DePaul on Saturday!
Now that South Florida has thumped DePaul twice (by an average of 15.5 points), can we pretty please overlook them???
I'll go so far to say that I hope Buzz has one of his coaching staff getting up to speed on how to handle ND now. There are only two days after Depaul to get ready for the ND game and if you try to cram all the scouting and preparation in those two days, you may not make the necessary adjustments.
I am not saying that you have the team look past Depaul, you just have one of your staff prepping on ND.
Quote from: downtown85 on January 21, 2009, 06:42:16 AM
I'll go so far to say that I hope Buzz has one of his coaching staff getting up to speed on how to handle ND now. There are only two days after Depaul to get ready for the ND game and if you try to cram all the scouting and preparation in those two days, you may not make the necessary adjustments.
I am not saying that you have the team look past Depaul, you just have one of your staff prepping on ND.
In my very limited knowledge of coaching, isn't this what happens anyways? I remember I was invited to the Blue & Gold Kickoff Luncheon last year and Crean brought up his 3 or 4 assistants and they each provided a scouting report on the teams that we were starting the season off with. It certainly seemed like each one had been assigned one of the upcoming 3 or 4 opponents so it wouldn't surprise me if Buzz already has someone looking at ND...or Georgetown for that matter.
so sick of everyone calling every game that is against a terrible opponent a "trap game"
seriously.
Quote from: Hards_Alumni on January 21, 2009, 08:59:27 AM
so sick of everyone calling every game that is against a terrible opponent a "trap game"
seriously.
+1. While trap games do exist, Marquette will thump DePaul on Saturday. I'm excited to witness it in person.
I'm looking past the depaul game and the ND game to the GT game. No chance of us winning with my mind focused that far away.
Quote from: Hards_Alumni on January 21, 2009, 08:59:27 AM
so sick of everyone calling every game that is against a terrible opponent a "trap game"
seriously.
Another +1. Trap games are games where the underdog actually has a respectable (like...25%) shot to win. Where if a team shows up and doesn't bring its A-game, they could get nipped at the wire. I doubt Buzz lets us get to that point.
Quote from: notkirkcameron on January 21, 2009, 04:58:28 PM
Another +1. Trap games are games where the underdog actually has a respectable (like...25%) shot to win. Where if a team shows up and doesn't bring its A-game, they could get nipped at the wire. I doubt Buzz lets us get to that point.
I've always thought of a 'trap' game as one that is so easy to win, even with bad breaks against, that players overlook the game for the next one. :-\
Simple to see DPU as a 'trap' considering the BC is a fortress, the Demons are the worst team in the league, and we have our most important Big East game of the season to date 48 hours later in South Bend.
based on our performance at Providence, even if we get behind early against Duhpaul, I see no way we shouldn't be able to come back and still make it a thumping. Will have to wait and see though
Quote from: Arshavin A Good Time on January 21, 2009, 05:24:22 PM
I've always thought of a 'trap' game as one that is so easy to win, even with bad breaks against, that players overlook the game for the next one. :-\
Simple to see DPU as a 'trap' considering the BC is a fortress, the Demons are the worst team in the league, and we have our most important Big East game of the season to date 48 hours later in South Bend.
Nah - our most important game is the next one. Always. Let's beat DePaul. GO MARQUETTE!