MU's Greatest Accomplishments

[DoubleMU0609]

This was brought up in another thread, but I thought it deserved its own topic.  There's been a little bit of debate on what MU basketball's greatest accomplishments have been and where a Big East regular season title (this is hypothetical, I'm not saying that we are assured of anything). So what is it?  Give me a list.

What I've got right now:
1. '77 NCAA Championship
2. '70 NIT Championship
3. '03 Final Four
4. '74 Final Four


(Alumni that graduate before '06 are going to have to help me in identifying other great moments.  Can we get this up to a list of ten?  Conference Championships, other runs in the tournament, big wins, coaching milestones?)

ps. can we set up a poll where you rank things instead of just selecting one (I assume that the '77 Championship would be first in everyone's lists.)

[MU Chi_IL]

NCAA Championships
(1977 vs N Carolina)

NCAA Championship Games
(1974 & 1977)

NCAA Final Four Appearances
(1974, 1977, 2003)

NIT Championships
(1970 vs St. John's)

NIT Championship Games
(1967, 1970, 1995)

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

In the grand scheme of things, I'm not sure the 2003 Final Four shouldn't rank second on this list. It's a totally different (more competitive) game then it was in 1970 and that was just an unbelievable accomplishment.

As for other accomplishments, how about winning 4 games in 4 days to win the Conference USA Conference Tournament in the Mike Deane era. That was just unbelievable.

Also the Sweet 16 in 1994 was an outstanding accomplishment.

I'm not sure where I'd rank a Big East Championship. It'd be nice, but you could argue that 2003 Conference USA was a stronger conference top to bottom than this year's Big East. I certainly wouldn't complain about winning the BE this year, however!!

[Nukem2]

Hmmmm...sounds like we have a tradition to keep up here...!!!

[ozmetal71]

The reason why I initially thought that winning the Big East would be one of the greatest accomplishments in MU basketball history is that it would really establish us as a truly big-time program again.  Many basketball pundits thought that Marquette would get buried in the Big East and would not be able to compete at all.  Especially Marquette's own Fat "Oh-Fense" Rick Majerus who thought it was a mistake for MU to join.

While the Big East is down, winning the league would bring Marquette a tremendous amount of prestige and respect that has been lacking since the McGuire era.  People outside the MU program view the FF run in 2003 as a magical run led by Wade, and a cinderella story, not the hallmark of a program that is among the elite.

A Big East championship would pay bigger dividends as people around the country would notice and Marquette's name would begin to be associated with dominance of a power conference and not the McGuire era or Wade.  It would give the program a springboard to really firmly entrench itself with the great programs in the country.

I think that winning C-USA in 2003 was great, but that conference was not better than the Big East this year. 

[ZiggysFryBoy]

I don't want to win the big east championship just so we don't have to have PRN b!tch about another banner at the BC.....

[4everwarriors]

there are banners and then there are banners.

[spiral97]

I don't care who complains.. I am perfectly fine with winning the big east championship and just having the burden of ignoring anyone who doesn't like it.   

[The Lens]

This was brought up in another thread, but I thought it deserved its own topic.  There's been a little bit of debate on what MU basketball's greatest accomplishments have been and where a Big East regular season title (this is hypothetical, I'm not saying that we are assured of anything). So what is it?  Give me a list.

What I've got right now:
1. '77 NCAA Championship
2. '70 NIT Championship
3. '03 Final Four
4. '74 Final Four

We didn't make the Final Four in 1974...we made the fricking National Championship Game!  Its ridiculous that's its even referred to a "Final Four".

That being said...my list:

1. 1977
2. 1974
3. 1970 (its takes balls to say F U to the NCAA)
4. 1971 Season (undefeated regular season)
5. 2003 FF
6. 1976 Season (really could have used some "seeding")
7. 2003 CUSA Champ
8. 1994 GMC Champ
9. 1994 Sweet 16
10. 1997 CUSA CONFERENCE Champ...4 wins were fun but winning the reg season is more important to me

[Rocco]

The 1970's were an accomplishment all their own.  MU had the second highest winning percentage in the country over that 10 year span, behind only UCLA(which happens to be the greatest dynasty in the history of college basketball).  If it weren't for UCLA, MU would be mentioned in the same conversations as Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina and Kansas.  But, as it is, we are in the same category as the NC States of the world, second tier in all time accomplishments, but still ahead of most.

[augoman]

The 1970's were an accomplishment all their own.  MU had the second highest winning percentage in the country over that 10 year span, behind only UCLA(which happens to be the greatest dynasty in the history of college basketball). 


I believe Marquette was ranked in the TOP TEN FOR THE ENTIRE TEN YEAR PERIOD as well!

[Eye]

Not sure who posted it, or if it was here or on the Scout site (thinking the Scout site, but like I said, I'm not 100 percent sure), but MU was ranked in the top 20 every week for nearly 10 straight years, from Dec. 23 of 1969 to Dec. 11 of 1979.

http://www.sportsstats.com/AP/Marquette.html

[WashDCWarrior]

If I understand that page correctly, we weren't ranked at all between 12/14/82 and 1/18/93.  Ouch.  How far we've come.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Hey Ziggy -- hanging a banner for a conference championship is legitimate. Hanging one for the CBE Championship is not. Anybody who doesn't see the difference in the two is not being honest.

[StillAWarrior]

If I understand that page correctly, we weren't ranked at all between 12/14/82 and 1/18/93.  Ouch.  How far we've come.

Unfortunately, I was there during that time.  We certainly have come a long way since the 10-18 debacle.  It's a wonder that there are any fans who were there during those dark years.  I envy the current students.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Hey Ziggy -- hanging a banner for a conference championship is legitimate. Hanging one for the CBE Championship is not. Anybody who doesn't see the difference in the two is not being honest.

PRN, it was a joke. 

[StillAWarrior]

http://www.sportsstats.com/AP/Marquette.html

Really cool link.  One interesting thing that jumped out at me is that Louisville is 7th all time for the number of weeks ranked, but never No. 1 (stats through 2001 season).

[tower912]

I was there during the Majerus/Dukiet regime.  Arrrgggh.  We were on the cusp of being ranked during 85-86, UNC came to town, Pops Sims had the best game of his career, we had the heels down, but they pulled it out on some last second free throws with coins raining from the student section.   Majerus left soon after, Dukiet took over, darkness reigned.  The talk around campus the week leading up to that one was that if we beat Carolina, we will probably be ranked.   Moot point.

[augoman]

Tower, I too (unfortunately) suffered thru the dark ages..., never missed a game.  It was especially difficult after the great years w/ Al-although I remember all the grumbling in '77 when we lost 5 games at home.  I guess I've seen the student sections swell and shrink along w/ the program, but w/the current hype, budget and success, there should be 'gold shirts to the rafters' every game!
The sad news is the blackmailing and arm-twisting for 'donations' that is going on...

[Eye]

I attended MU in 1989 and 1990, so was just starting to see the reclamation by KON of the Dukiet years. The first game I recall going to as a freshman was against Loyola in Dec. of 1989, I sang the anthem with the MU chorus. We sat in the upper deck in the end zone, and I recall other members of the choir looking at me like I was a total and complete doofus (sp?) for being into the game (MU won in OT IIRC). Amazing how much it's changed from then to '03. I even remember calling the MU athletics office on the Sunday night of Selectoin Sunday during spring break in March of '90 just to find out if they had made the NIT (they did, lost at Penn State in Tony Smith's final game).

I seem to remember MU was ranked for one week in '86 after the UNC loss, something like 24th in the coaches poll for a week, but lost right away after that to someone on the East Coast (Providence maybe?) and lost the spot. I remember that because I actually got to see some MU highlights on CNN Sports Tonight, which was a big deal back then, being in the MU albatross known as West Central Wisconsin. I could probably talk for hours about all the goofy things I did back then to follow MU, from sitting in my car 45 miles away from home to listen to WISN, to driving to the high points in the area where I live to pick up a UC or UL radio feed on better stations in the mid-90s.

Edit: I found it. MU lost to UNC in '86 to fall to 11-5, then won at Hartford the following Thursday to improve to 12-5. Pretty sure they were ranked 24th in the coaches poll that week. Lost next 3 however, to VCU, ND and Xavier. Lost twice at ND and at DePaul that year, which if remember those days correctly, really negated playing UNC well in terms of getting a bid.

[mviale]

I was there for some of the worst basketball in our history(1986-1990), so I truly appreciate Crean.    We were still fun to watch as we used to sneak 40's into the Mecca to watch Notre Dame, Depaul and some solid competition.  Anglavar, Tony Smith, Ty Baldwin & Trevor Powell carried us with some respectability.

Those were the days - Go warriors!

[Eye]

I remember with fondness participating in the Rod Grosse pools. Draw a #, 0 through 9, and whatever # is the final # of RG's point total, you win the pot. You kind of knew going in that if you got anything higher than about 4, your were in big trouble.

[mviale]

RG was a Highly touted Big - never panned out. Big Careful what you wish for.

[tower912]

I remember him standing next to Roman Mueller in the McCormick cafeteria, watching them both duck to enter the room, seeing 14 feet and 400 lbs of stiff, wondering if my intramural team could beat them.