Predictions.....

[duanewade]

1) Marquette will face ND for the Big East Tournament Championship.  The fact that we lost/choked a complete heartbreaker to them one week earlier gives us the advantage as the players knew they were the better team and won't let it slip away again....Marquette wins the Big East Tourney and the last Saturday's ND loss turns out to be a blessing in disguise (no pun intended for two catholic schools playing during Lent).

I'm confident we beat Georgetown as Buzz seems to have GT III's number as their style of play has trouble with our style of play.  GT III teams don't play with as much toughness and swagger that his father's teams played with....I actually think Georgetown plays a little soft.  Game will be close as always but Marquette is a team of destiny. 

My concern is the team gets a Thursday day game from the NCAA which will be a tough turn around as we saw from the Gerry McNamara/Syracuse incredible run several years back that one incredible week can be physically and emotionally draining and actually hamper the following week.  HOWEVER Buzz' intense boot camp in the fall prepared them physically/mentally for this moment and we for sure win our first game.  A second game win would be a Sweet 16 which would be absolutely incredible run/year for this program based on the talent in place.  Regardless if we lose the 2nd NCAA game the publicity from winning the Big East Tournament will be a bigger and more lasting impact on future recruiting battles than a Sweet 16 birth.

2) Tom Crean is bought out by the IU two to three years from now tops.  Recruiting is a brutal/messy business and trust me other coaches will be getting potential IU targets ears telling them that Marquette has gotten better since Crean left and that Crean can't coach.  Although recruiting is full of lies and BS there is some truth to that.  This past fall he lost on all the top prospects he was after due in large part to how bad the team was the year before. 

In Crean's defense he has guys like Wade, Diener and Novak who will vouch for him.  Other guys like Lazar, Jerel and Wes probably never cared for him much and are much more Buzz guys.  However even Wade, Diener and Novak are not going to be out helping him sell IU to recruits when their loyalty is to Marquette first.   

IU is a tough place to coach unless you are a true X & O coach.  The IU alumni want you to take the local hot shot farm boys and mix them in with some true national blue chip players.  The only coach who was able to do this effectively was Coach Knight and Crean is not Coach Knight. 

3) Chico jumps in and tells us that there is a boatload of blue chip Indiana talent in the next couple classes.  That maybe true but the tOSU's, MSU's and even Marquette's of the world will be more appealing to them then the local state home team and as the recruiting losses and game losses pile up.   Crean never should have left but I couldn't be happier that he did. 

[GuamanianTerror]

I think you are giving Tommy Tan too long of a shelf life. His months, not years, are numbered.