I think the weather is a push.  Yes, the Rams haven't played in it.  Neither have the Bears.  Not like Sunday's forecast. 

Good luck with that. It will take a lot more than the special team's performance in cold weather for the Bears to beat the Rams on Sunday. It will come down to controlling the line of scrimmage and clamping down on Puka. The Bears can do, no doubt about it. I just hope things turn out better for the Rams than the last time they played on the road against the Bears in a playoff game.

Quote from: Pakuni on January 15, 2026, 12:25:25 PMI think it could work long-term with improved recruiting.
But if we're talking about a 2026-27 turnaround, it's going to take more than bringing in a support player or two.

I agree with this.  For next season we'd need, at minimum, two good starters (a center and a scoring wing) to turn things around, assuming the return of Nigel, Adrian, and Royce.

I was saying more long-term.  And yes, recruiting would have to improve.  You can't miss on an entire class and expect it to work. 

Quote from: Jay Bee on January 15, 2026, 02:35:23 PMThere's not a two week portal window.

A kid who wants the easy pass for immediate eligibility just needs to notify his current school during those 15 days. Just sets the wheels in motion for a potential transfer, that's it.

correct. Two weeks to put one's name in the Portal. Football has the same (Jan 2-16).

A lot of talk about the weather on Sunday in Chicago, but I don't think it will make a huge difference, with one exception.

The Rams special teams are awful, and I think if the Bears are going to win on Sunday, bad Rams special teams will play a big factor. Mevis is a rookie and kicking at Soldier Field on a cold and windy day in January is no joke. Their coverage units are not good and they're the only team in the NFL whose philosophy is to aim for touchbacks on every kickoff. I think if any unit is going to be impacted by the weather, it'll be the Rams ST unit.

Quote from: MU82 on January 14, 2026, 02:07:57 PMOh, I'm not sure either. Nor do I think Fanta knows that, say, Seton Hall has the resources but Marquette doesn't.

Right? If Fanta doesn't think MU has the resources to have a top half BE program, he's doesn't know squat.

If in some bizarre reality Fanta was right, MU would be wise to move to a less expensive coach and allocate more to talent.   

Quote from: Jay Bee on January 15, 2026, 02:46:12 PMNot here. #mubb fans celebrate 2 seeds with quick, unhappy NCAA tourney endings. It's the non-Warrior Way!

Marquette has advanced further than that quick, unhappy NCAA Tournament ending two years ago twice in most Scoopers' lives.  You're old enough to play pickleball, so it might be more in your lifetime.  But those were very good seasons for Marquette basketball.

Quote from: WhiteTrash on January 15, 2026, 12:10:49 PMJohnson seems like a douche? As a Bears fan, I can see that.

I think most of the really good coaches come off that way. MLF has been accused of that by other fan bases. Few exception might be Landry, Reid, Dungy....

I think Johnson comes off to rival fans the same way Kolek did.  He's been super animated and emotional and bombastic in the locker room all year and it's clearly worked in terms of energizing the team and creating a culture.  The pearl clutching over the F bomb is silly.  Of course he would annoy me as a Packers fan, especially after how the season ended.  But neutral fans, gimme a break.  It's not like he's been loud and combative as the Bears piled up losses. I'm sure Al dropped more than a few F bomba toward teams, both in and out of the locker room

In the past, all teams delt with recruiting misses but now, especially in the P5, the ability to "correct" those mistakes allows the teams to raise their over-all talent level annually. This is the critical flaw in RGV in comparison to our competition.

Quote from: Jay Bee on January 15, 2026, 02:45:19 PMI like most of your comments in the post, but just want to note that 2025 RSCI ratings had Nigel at #96 and that's it in the top 100. 

Oh damn, was it really?  Admittedly, I mainly get my recruit rankings from 247 so that's what I based my points on ^ (Adrien was #78, Nigel was #86, Michael was #106, Ian was #112).

Do you guys recommend another site that's most accurate?  ESPN, On3, MaxPreps, 247 are the basics, but do you just get RSCI ratings from On3?