[Cracked Sidewalks] Ohio State Added to the Slate

[CrackedSidewalksSays]

Ohio State Added to the Slate

Written by: noreply@blogger.com (Alan Bykowski)

Let me start this by inviting Mike Broeker and everyone involved in scheduling at Marquette to take a bow. Landing the Ohio State University in a neutral site game on an aircraft carrier is nothing less than a massive coup. Last year, the North Carolina/Michigan State game that kicked off the season was one of the most talked about sporting events at the time. I imagine that this will likely garner similar publicity, and is a fantastic way to promote Marquette while also giving the team a great early-season test.

With the kudos portion of the article out of the way, I decided to take another brief look at the schedule as it stands. According to Value-Add, Marquette currently is ranked #12 in the country for the 2012-13 season with a rating of 32.96. Here's a look at the opponents:

The Sure Things

[color=red;">(N)][color=black;">][/color]33.80) The Buckeyes are a top-ten team according to Value-Add, and will be a formidable foe. While Jared Sullinger is headed to the NBA and William Buford graduated, they return a ton of talent including DeShaun Thomas and Aaron Craft.

[color=#660000;">(H)][/color][/color][/b] (23rd -- 29.17) The Badgers are always tough, thankfully they come to the BC this year. There may not be much star-power, but Bo Ryan gets the most out of players like Ben Brust, Ryan Evans, and Josh Gasser, and much is expected out of freshman Sam Dekker.

[color=#38761d;">(A)][color=black;">][/color]

[color=#351c75;">(H)][color=black;">][/color]

The Question Marks

[color=blue;">(A)][color=blue;">][/color][color=blue;">(15th]Missouri[/b] (18th -- 31.30) With Georgetown/UK already set, it seems Marquette will likely play one of these two on the road. It could be a number of other teams, but these two have been the most frequently mentioned.

[color=#b45f06;">(N)][color=black;">][/color]33.70), [color=#6fa8dc;">North][color=#6fa8dc;">]Butler[/b] (81st -- 18.23), [color=#073763;">Illinois][color=#cc0000;">USC][color=#990000;">Mississippi][color=black;">][color=blue;">Chaminade]
The Unknowns

This slate gives us two high-major home games, two true road games (including a SEC team), and four neutral site games, of which at least two should be against top-level teams. There will be one mainland game coming back from the Maui. Last year, two of the four mainland teams won their conferences (Belmont and Middle Tennessee), so it's possible to get another decent mid-major there. UW-Milwaukee may still be in the mix. If so, that leaves three more buy games. Hopefully the scheduling crew can at least get teams inside the top-300 to avoid the major RPI drains. Can't wait to see the rest of the schedule as it's unveiled.

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2012/05/ohio-state-added-to-slate.html

[brewcity77]

Ohio State Added to the Slate

Let me start this by inviting Mike Broeker and everyone involved in scheduling at Marquette to take a bow. Landing the Ohio State University in a neutral site game on an aircraft carrier is nothing less than a massive coup. Last year, the North Carolina/Michigan State game that kicked off the season was one of the most talked about sporting events at the time. I imagine that this will likely garner similar publicity, and is a fantastic way to promote Marquette while also giving the team a great early-season test.

With the kudos portion of the article out of the way, I decided to take another brief look at the schedule as it stands. According to Value-Add, Marquette currently is ranked #12 in the country for the 2012-13 season with a rating of 32.96. Here's a look at the opponents:

The Sure Things

(N) Ohio State (9th -- 33.80) The Buckeyes are a top-ten team according to Value-Add, and will be a formidable foe. While Jared Sullinger is headed to the NBA and William Buford graduated, they return a ton of talent including DeShaun Thomas and Aaron Craft.

(H) Wisconsin (23rd -- 29.17) The Badgers are always tough, thankfully they come to the BC this year. There may not be much star-power, but Bo Ryan gets the most out of players like Ben Brust, Ryan Evans, and Josh Gasser, and much is expected out of freshman Sam Dekker.

(A) UW-Green Bay (109th -- 15.38) Surprised to see the Phoenix this high? Brian Wardle has them headed in the right direction, and Alec Brown may be the best big man in the Horizon. This will be a tough road game against a team that returns their top-four scorers.

(H) LSU (129th -- 13.29) Marquette will be looking for revenge on a Tiger team in transition. They have a new coach in Johnny Jones and lost four of their top seven scorers. Much will be expected of sophomore McDonald's All-American Johnny O'Bryant.

(H) Milwaukee (206th -- 5.54) Just saw this one confirmed on IWB's website. Looks like the series will continue, and with a road game at Green Bay, there's no way we're playing the Panthers away this year.

The Question Marks

(A) Florida (15th -- 32.16) or Missouri (18th -- 31.30) With Georgetown/UK already set, it seems Marquette will likely play one of these two on the road. It could be a number of other teams, but these two have been the most frequently mentioned.

(N) Texas (10th -- 33.70), North Carolina (29th -- 28.12), Butler (81st -- 18.23), Illinois (104th -- 15.54), USC (111th -- 15.11), Mississippi State (125th -- 13.69), Chaminade (Division II) Marquette will play three of these seven in Maui, my hopes are to see anyone but Chaminade in the opener with a path that includes Texas and UNC if the Warriors keep winning.

The Unknowns

This slate gives us two high-major home games, two true road games (including a SEC team), and four neutral site games, of which at least two should be against top-level teams. There will be one mainland game coming back from the Maui. Last year, two of the four mainland teams won their conferences (Belmont and Middle Tennessee), so it's possible to get another decent mid-major there. That leaves three more buy games. Hopefully the scheduling crew can at least get teams inside the top-300 to avoid the major RPI drains. Can't wait to see the rest of the schedule as it's unveiled.

[chapman]

Some damn fine non-con scheduling for the second year in a row.

[brewcity77]

According to IWB's site, the UWM writer also said that Milwaukee will play Marquette this year. I thought our deal expired (4/1, right?), so either the first game with them in this latest stretch (2007) was a buy game and we have one left in the 4/1 contract or we signed a new deal with them, either on a buy basis or a series.

I really hope that it's a buy, there's no reason to ever go back to the Cell. It's a lose/lose situation, and besides, we'll probably draw 5,000 more fans at our place.

[bamamarquettefan]

Great read, though sorry it broke here so really needed to switch back over to cracked sidewalks to follow it all the way.

If We do get Texas or unc early that would be a great opportunity since unc will be bearable at least early in the year and Texas should be almost unbeatable by the end of the year.

But everything else takes a backseat to the aircraft carrier (davante) conquering the aircraft carrier.  In an environment where you need to get to the rim, I think davante will be leading off ESPN the evening of November 9.

[LloydMooresLegs]

[quote author=bamamarquettefan link=topic=32589.msg394692#msg394692 date=

But everything else takes a backseat to the aircraft carrier (davante) conquering the aircraft carrier.  In an environment where you need to get to the rim, I think davante will be leading off ESPN the evening of November 9.
[/quote]

Our aircraft carrier (the USS Sheesh) v. theirs, Air (Aaron) Craft.  I'll take ours!

[brewcity77]

Made this more readable, all in the 2nd post of the thread

[Otule's Glass Eye]

Ohio State Added to the Slate

(A) UW-Green Bay (109th -- 15.38) Surprised to see the Phoenix this high? Brian Wardle has them headed in the right direction, and Alec Brown may be the best big man in the Horizon. This will be a tough road game against a team that returns their top-four scorers.

Was surprised to see that Brown was a top 15 pick on NBADraft.net's 2013 mock draft.

[bamamarquettefan]

Yeah, i was making the point way back when some people were on a "we need a 7-footer" that there really are very few decent 7-footers, and that we'd already played against one of the best in Brown.

In Value Add, he was the 7th best 7-footer in the country this year, just behind Fab Melo and just ahead of Sacre.  There were only nine 7-footers in the top 5% (top 400) of all players, and the NBA is still always looking for a few big guys, even after they see a 6-foot-3 3/4 guy abuse a 6-11 guy (Crowder > Drummond).

Season Rank   Player   Team   Conf   Ht   Class   Off   Def   PG Per   Value Add   Year   NBA Position
11   Zeller, Tyler   North Carolina   ACC   7-00   4 Sr   5.35   -1.89   0.50   7.74   2012   PF/C NBA
36   Withey, Jeff   Kansas   B12   7-00   3 Jr   3.46   -2.99   0.00   6.46   2012   C NBA
71   Leonard, Meyers   Illinois   B10   7-01   2 So   3.60   -2.06   0.00   5.66   2012   C NBA
161   Stutz, Garrett   Wichita St.   MVC   7-00   4 Sr   2.96   -1.46   0.00   4.42   2012   
265   Marshall, Zeke   Akron   MAC   7-00   3 Jr   2.13   -1.09   0.50   3.72   2012   C NBA
267   Melo, Fab   Syracuse   BE   7-00   2 So   1.79   -1.92   0.00   3.71   2012   C NBA
290   Brown, Alec   Wisconsin Green Bay   Horz   7-01   2 So   1.95   -1.62   0.00   3.57   2012   C NBA
363   Sacre, Robert   Gonzaga   WCC   7-00   4 Sr   2.54   -0.67   0.00   3.20   2012   C NBA
386   Henriquez, Jordan   Kansas St.   B12   7-00   3 Jr   1.11   -2.01   0.00   3.11   2012   

He projects to be top 200, or top 5%, the next two years if he stays
Season Rank   Player   Team   Conf   Ht   Class   Off   Def   PG Per   Value Add   Year   NBA Position
603   Brown, Alec   Wisconsin Green Bay   Horz   7-00   1 Fr   1.69   -0.54   0.00   2.23   2011   C NBA
290   Brown, Alec   Wisconsin Green Bay   Horz   7-01   2 So   1.95   -1.62   0.00   3.57   2012   C NBA
174   Brown, Alec   Wisconsin Green Bay   Horz   7-01   3 Jr   2.85   -1.87   0.00   4.72   2013   C NBA
182   Brown, Alec   Wisconsin Green Bay   Horz   7-01   4 Sr   3.22   -2.17   0.00   5.39   2014   C NBA