What do we do with six left to go?

[wardle2wade]

nt, I hate iphones.

[muguru]

Whoa. That's...entitled.

The team isn't as talented as we thought (you know, in the time before the season where'd we'd never seen them play, didn't know the line ups and had no idea about any potential injuries or transfers), and took longer to gel.

I'd prefer to give them credit for battling through a tough year than denigrate them (and us as fans) for your misplaced expectations.

It wasn't just me....oh hell no. Perhaps you didn't see all the National pundits, and the BE Coaches(who last time I checked know something about basketball), that picked this team to win the BE(unanimously). So my expectations were not misplaced, and if you ask anyone that knows college BB, NO ONE expected MU to be fighting to just get on the bubble at this point in the season. Nice try heaping it on me though.

[AZWarrior]

6-0.  I'm an optimist.  It's more fun.....

Of course, I'm not putting money on that.   

[MU82]

If we cannot beat Creighton or Nova, do we really want to goto the NCAA's?

Yes.

I always want to go to the NCAAs.

Always.

[warriorchick]

If we cannot beat Creighton or Nova, do we really want to goto the NCAA's?

Abso-fricken-lutely.  I wouldn't even mind if we had be in the play-in game in Dayton.  It's the only venue that is within reasonable roadtrip distance.

[wardle2wade]

If we cannot beat Creighton or Nova, do we really want to goto the NCAA's?

Do you really want to give this up?  http://mcubed.net/ncaab/strkr64c.shtml

MU right now has the 6th longest ncaa streak behind Duke, Kansas, Mich State, Gonzaga, and Wiscy.  MU's streak is longer than 345 ncaa d1 teams.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Not going to happen. DePaul is without Cleveland Melvin, their only real D1 player. I think most high schools would have a better chance against us than DePaul.

Huge overexaggeration here. Brandon Young is a baller and Billy Garret Jr. was a top 100 player last season. Combine that with a surprising Hamilton and you have a solid team. Now, I do believe that we will crush them, but to say they are worse than a high school team is ridiculous.

[Avenue Commons]

We fo 4-2 and are on the outside looking in this year.

Too bad too, since the team today against Xavier gelled and did what they needed to do. We looked good and finally were playing as a team.

4-2 would put us at 19-12 going into Big East tourney. Pick up two wins and a loss there and we'd be 21-13 overall out of Big East. With the expanded field this could be enough.

[PGsHeroes32]

To show we're not that far off even today (let alone a 4-2 finish), here are the resumes of Lunardi's last three teams IN.  

All ranks are using the kenpom app.  

#27 Tennessee (15-10)...
Top 100 wins: Xavier (neutral) 39, virginia 9, @LSU 70, Arkansas 51, Mississippi 79.
Losses outside top 100: TexasA&M 153, @vandy 106.

#63 Richmond (17-8)...
T100 wins: Delaware 95, dayton 58, mass 44, st joes 66
L's outside top 100: @wakeforest 111, ohio 101

#66 St Joes (17-7) ...
T100 wins: @Vermont 69, @dayton 58, mass 44, vcu 22
L's outside top 100: @temple 172.

#49 Marquette (15-10)...
T100 wins: GW (neutral) 41, seton hall 93, @gtown 51, providence 57, @shu 93, Xavier 39.
L's outside top 100: @butler 109.


If MU were to go 4-2 (even with losses to Creighton and @nova), they would add wins vs gtown, @prov, and st johns, and would have no other loss outside top 100.  It's not the world's best resume, but most definitely a resume in par with the last teams in.

Great post. People can hold it against me all they want but if we happen to go 4-2 we will make the tournament plain and f'ing simple. Maybe the play in game but were getting in.

Like you said even if we don't beat the big 2. That means we are still 11-7 with the following...a sweep of fellow borderline teams gtown and providence and splits with Xavier and St. Johns. Sorry. We are in.

What I would LOVE though is find a way to win the next 3(1 game at a time all are tough for this team) and go into Nova at 18-10 (10-5). That is basically playing with house money at that point. Red hot, 6 game winning streak on the road against a top 10ish team. Not expected to win, don't NEED to win. But potential to really solidify everything.

[jsglow]

I optimistically said 5-1.  Of course it's really one game at a time now.  Need to find a way to win Wednesday.

[tower912]

Was dreadman the one person to predict 0-6?

[Windyplayer]

Was dreadman the one person to predict 0-6?

I see us splitting between Creighton & Nova, losing @Providence, and winning @DePaul and at home against Gtown and SJU. That 4-2 would surely get us in even with a loss to a bubble team on a Thursday night at the Garden. Those last four in have less impressive wins than us in the top 100 and we're bound to pick up a few more quality top 100 wins here moving forward. That being said, it's going to be a grind down the stretch--one in which I embrace.

[NavinRJohnson]

4-2 means we need to get the BET championship.

5-1 means we are probably in.

Not picking on you specifically, but comments like this are kind of silly. Marquette does not operate in a vacum. They have to fill the field with 68 teams. Going 4-2 as an example would almost necessarily guarantee that MU finishes 3rd in the Big East, and would also almost necessarily move them ahead of Providence, Xavier, St. John's  and Georgetown, as it require that they beat some of those teams, hurting their stock, while improving their own.

There is a full 1/3 of the conference season left. If you're going to say that MU doesn't get a bid with an 11-7 record, 8 or 9 wins in their last 12 games, 3rd place in the Big East, etc., you are going to be hard pressed to put any of the aforementioned Big East teams in the field, and thus a very difficult time coming up with names for all 68 lines.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

I cant say I know what the committee looks at but from what I remember the past few years it seems that a lot of teams that have been "trending up" towards the end of the season usually get the nod over someone who struggled down the stretch. Assuming were going 4-2 or 5-1 that can only help MU's case.