http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/9018/big-east-college-basketball-preview
(http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2011/0320/ncb_g_cusemarts03_576.jpg)
Sleeper Team – Marquette
I'm defining "sleeper team" as a team that nobody in their right mind would think is the best team in the conference but is still good enough to make some noise in March, and possibly even win the conference tournament, and if a ton of things went its way, and it got incredibly lucky, could even briefly be a threat to win the regular season conference title. (Yes, I know it's a long-winded definition.)
In the Big East, Marquette is that team. The Golden Eagles were picked in the preseason to finish sixth in the conference this year, but I wouldn't exactly be shocked if they ended up third or fourth in the standings by year's end. This is predominantly because with Darius Johnson-Odom and Jae Crowder, Marquette returns two of its three best players from last year's Sweet Sixteen team that beat third-seeded Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament. Sure last year's team was less than stellar during the regular season, but it finished with the same conference record as UConn, so you could argue that it wasn't that much worse than the national champs.
Plus, here's a statistic that I cherry picked to help support my argument: Since joining the Big East, Marquette is one of only two teams in the conference to have never won the regular season conference title and never finished tenth or worse in the conference standings (West Virginia is the other). This means that – along with Digger Phelps overvaluing Notre Dame and the rest of the country having to be reminded that DePaul, South Florida, Rutgers, Seton Hall, and Providence are all still in the conference – the one thing you can count on every year with Big East basketball is Marquette being a good-but-not-great team. In other words, it is good enough to stir the pot and make things interesting but it's probably not going to be good enough to be the champ. And that, I just decided, is exactly how I would define a sleeper team.
Player to Cheer for if You Don't Have a Favorite – Darius Johnson-Odom (Marquette)
I'll be honest and tell you that I only watched a handful of Marquette's games last year, but that handful was more than enough for me to fall in love with DJO's explosively entertaining game. (There's no way people don't call him DJO, right?) He's a preseason All-Big East first team selection who averaged 15.8 points per game last year, but here's all you really need to know about the guy: He's a senior who transferred to Marquette from a junior college two years ago and, at just 6'2", he's kind of small for a basketball player. Translation: He has most likely been told his entire life that he's not good enough, which ironically is probably exactly why he is so good, and why it looks like he plays with a chip on his shoulder. Simply put, pretty much every college basketball player rises these days, but what sets DJO apart from all of them is that when he rises, he also grinds. That's something I admire about the guy.
team to cheer for pitt? the team that started the realignment...no thanks.
Grantland writer Charles P. Pierce is a Marquette alum. I would bet a lot he checks in on the MU message boards from time to time.
Was a fan of Titus when he was writing his Club Trillion blog, and am now an even bigger fan with some solid MU love here!
+1,000,000,000,000 ;D
We are a 'sleeper' because we are picked to finish 5th but he "wouldn't exactly be shocked if they ended up third or fourth"?
Not exactly heaping on the praise.