Who should we be pulling for? Duke or St Johns?

[GoMarquette32]

In terms of ncaa bids for marquette.

[KipsBayEagle]

St. Johns, improves the overall strength of the big east

[Nukem2]

Agree.

[Eye]

Beyond the BE, St. John's. MU still has a chance to beat them.

[Wade for President]

St Johns by a landslide.

[Windyplayer]

St Johns by a landslide.

Eh, it could realistically come down to choosing either MU or SJU to go to the dance. I wouldn't be so sure about an SJU win being the best thing for us, though I do love that we're playing them at home (so it may help our RPI ultimately). But arguments can be made on both sides.

[Ari Gold]

St. Johns for the sake of the Conference and Marquette's tournament hopes.
Personally, I still cheer for Duke

[marquette99]

Sju on all counts.

On rpi, opponents record is a wash, but opponents-opponents record is where st johns record has more than 20 times the impact dukes does.

And if we beat sju, becomes even bigger.  If we had beaten duke, it would have been a close call.

[Tugg Speedman]

Eh, it could realistically come down to choosing either MU or SJU to go to the dance. I wouldn't be so sure about an SJU win being the best thing for us, though I do love that we're playing them at home (so it may help our RPI ultimately). But arguments can be made on both sides.

To go dancing we are going to have to beat St. Johns either way.  Better they raise their stature by running Duke off the court.

It should also remind everyone why the BE deserves 11 bids and the ACC 3, not 5 like Dickie V has been saying.

[Eye]

Eye-ball test, I'd agree on the ACC. But looking at the numbers right now, looks to me like 6 teams would have a pretty good argument, Duke, Carolina, FSU, Clemson, Turtles and Va Tech.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Eye-ball test, I'd agree on the ACC. But looking at the numbers right now, looks to me like 6 teams would have a pretty good argument, Duke, Carolina, FSU, Clemson, Turtles and Va Tech.

I could see it coming down to MU, SJU and Cincy for the final bid or two from the Beast. I can't imagine a win over Duke on SJU's resume would be a good thing for us.

But, I guess if we beat SJU, it wouldn't matter. Either way, I am having a hard time deciding if I want Duke to make this interesting or not.

[brewcity77]

Eye-ball test, I'd agree on the ACC. But looking at the numbers right now, looks to me like 6 teams would have a pretty good argument, Duke, Carolina, FSU, Clemson, Turtles and Va Tech.

Duke and North Carolina look like locks. Both are projected to finish with top 15 RPIs and should get the requisite wins. Florida State is also very well positioned. Their win against Duke was huge, projected for a 53 RPI, and should win 20+ games.

After that, it gets questionable. Clemson, like us, has no really significant non-conference wins, their best being Seton Hall. They do have a loss to South Carolina that won't do them any favors. If they beat all the teams below them the rest of the way, they can get in, as long as an RPI of around 60 is good enough this year. Maryland is in a similar situation. They did beat Penn State in the non-con, but are 2-7 against the top 100. They need to add some top 100 wins to improve their 63 RPI, though with a soft bubble, that may be enough. Virginia Tech...hmm, tough call. They could win 20 again and be left out again. Their projected RPI of 70 likely won't be good enough to get them in. They will probably need one more big win, but their only real chance left is Duke. Good luck with that one.

Another team to keep an eye on is Boston College. They'll answer whether they belong in the next five. After losses to FSU and Duke, they face UNC, Va Tech, Clemson, Maryland, and UNC again. If they can win a couple of those and get to 20 total wins, their projected RPI would probably be in the top 50, likely good enough to make the Dance. It wouldn't surprise me if BC got in ahead of Maryland, Clemson, and Virginia Tech. But if they run their losing streak to 7, forget about it.

[MattyWarrior]

SJU over Duke big time. I love the sour look on Coack K's  face

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Duke has too many traditional players.

[brewcity77]

Huge win for the Johnnies. Well done for them, will certainly be good for us if we can beat them at the BC.

[Eye]

I'd agree Clemson hasn't done a ton to this point, but it also looks like they have a pretty favorable schedule down the stretch, with just at Duke the only game I'd be big-time surprised if they won.

Maryland's a team I like quite a bit more than everyone in the league other than Duke on the eye-ball test, today notwithstanding. Actually they remind me of MU. Were plenty competitive with teams like Duke, Pitt and nova when I've watched them.

I should probably know better on Virginia Tech. I guess I'll give them a little bit of credit for scheduling better in the non-conference this year.

The bad losses to URI and Harvard would knock me off of BC more than the win over A&M, but agreed, they have a shot.

[MarquetteDano]

Does not necessarily have to be and either or with St. John's and Marquette making the dance.  Plus if St. John's makes the dance that is more money in Marquette's coffers.

[mviale]

Huge win for the Johnnies. Well done for them, will certainly be good for us if we can beat them at the BC.

Ok - can we agree that the BE will get 10 teams into the tourney

[bilsu]

I think a St. John's win over Duke takes the Big east to 10 bids.

[mviale]

The Big East competition is making its member teams so much more competitive.   Others will catch up by March, but this bodes well for us now.

[79Warrior]

Duke has too many traditional players.

Duke has TWO losses.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Duke has TWO losses.

It was a joke.