What grade would you give the 2006-2007 Marquette team?

[Warrior1996]

I give them a C because they got a D- on the final exam.

[CTWarrior]

Depends on how you grade.  Compared to expectations we were a "C" during the season.  Compared to the Average Major Conference team, a "B" is clearly deserved.

Compared to expectations:

Out of conference:  BC

The loss to NDSU balances out the CBE, where I figured we'd lose once (semis or finals).  Having the loss to NDSU and the CBE championship is better than beating NDSU and losing one in the CBE, though.  Throw in the loss to UW, some less than impressive wins against lesser competition, and it was about even with expectations, but I'll go a little higher because winning a good tournament is very nice.

Big East:  B

Big East wasn't what it usually is, so at first glance 10-6 isn't so great.  But our schedule was tough, and we were a buzzer beating 20+ foot jumper away from sweeping Louisville and Pitt, and we had no real incomprehensible losses.  I'd say the loss at DePaul or home against Syracuse were probably the worst pure losses, and they really aren't so bad.  From memory, the only games where we weren't really in the hunt with less than 10 minutes to go was Providence and ND. 

BE tournament: CD

Albeit without McNeal, we beat a crappy SJU team without their best player, and not convincingly.  We hung around for a while against Pitt, but never thought we were going to win.

NCAA tournament:  F

Awful game against a solid team we should have been competitive with, if not beaten.

[NYWarrior]

Awful game against a solid team we should have been competitive with, if not beaten.

even without their best player?

MU sh!@ the bed against MSU, but without McNeal it was an uphill fight

[CTWarrior]

even without their best player?

MU sh!@ the bed against MSU, but without McNeal it was an uphill fight

I would say that even without McNeal we should have managed to score a basket or two in the first 9 1/2 minutes.  I finally saw the game last night (my wise-guy brother-in-law TIVO'd it for me while I was out of the country and begged me to watch it because, as he put, "it is stinking up my house").  Remember, we all thought we were a team who probably ought to have been a 6 seed.  Does losing McNeal drop our quality to a 15 seed?  Because we were outplayed like you'd expect a 15 or 16 seed to be against a 9.  I would consider arguments to any other grade but this.

[PJS]

Taken on the whole, it's hard to go much lower than a B-.

Considering all of the numbers hashed out here and the fact we lost Jerel for the stretch run. It was a solid "B" season after the Pitt win at home, yes? So, w/out the best player we faltered. Not that surprising.

Still, the flameout against MSU makes it seem much more like a C- season.

I think next year, however, is the first time in my 20 years of watching Marquette basketball that a run to the 16 is damn near essential. If we are going to be a true Big East player, it must be done.

We want to be on the UConn, Syracuse, Pitt side of the standings, not the Rutgers, St. John's, Providence end.

[The Lens]

B...10 Conf wins, CBE Title & getting off the schnide in the Conf Tourney was nice. Ooze made great strides, Jerel's 3pt shot really started to come thru.  Wes was a unsung hero.  Fitz was improved and Lazar & Cooby gave solid minutes.  DJ's shot selection made me wince but his D was solid all season long.

Looking forward to next season...should return 80%-100% of our starters and youth will no longer be an issue.  A deep run certainly happen.

[mviale]

I would go with a BC.