Dominic on cover of ESPN CollBasketball page-MU team of the week

[Aughnanure]

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/

[Brewtown Andy]

Only downside is that Katz choosing MU for team of the week took Player of the week away from McNeal.

[Sir Lawrence]

[mu_hilltopper]

Team of the Week: Marquette Golden Eagles
Last week: Won at Notre Dame, 71-64; beat Georgetown, 94-82.

The Golden Eagles are 8-0 in conference, 19-2 overall. Let that slide down your palette for a second. Marquette is as deserving as any other team in the Big East right now to be considered a league favorite and possible No. 1 seed.

Yes, the nonconference resume isn't strong. The win over Wisconsin doesn't look as good now. The loss to Tennessee in Nashville doesn't either and the "good" loss to Dayton on a neutral court is still a loss to a second-place A-10 team. The best nonconference win came against a lower-level ACC team -- at NC State -- on a last-possession shot.

But what happens if Marquette wins the Big East? Isn't this the best conference in the country? If so shouldn't the best team, in the best conference, be rewarded? This will be an interesting test case for the selection committee if this were to occur because the body of work doesn't compare to Pitt or Connecticut. But like Louisville, which is also undefeated in the league, struggling in the nonconference isn't a true indicator of this team's true potential.

Marquette still has its most difficult slate ahead with three straight road games pending, albeit two of them to bottom feeders DePaul and South Florida, before ending at Villanova. But the final five daunting games might not be as mountainous for the Golden Eagles.

Marquette goes to Georgetown, a team it just beat. Then the Golden Eagles host Connecticut at the Bradley Center where they're extremely tough to beat. Going to Louisville and Pitt back-to-back is the toughest chore any team will have this season in the Big East, but the ending game against Syracuse doesn't look as intimidating. If Marquette could get to the road swing to Louisville and Pitt with one loss or none then the Golden Eagles will have to be taken extremely serious for a high seed.

No team in the league has as experienced a backcourt as Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews and Dominic James. The play of Lazar Hayward as a face-up forward has been solid, so far. The players love playing for Buzz Williams and the mojo with this crew is as smooth as any team recently.

[avid1010]

If MU wins the BEAST and one game in the BEAST tournament they're a number 1 seed.

[CTWarrior]

If MU wins the BEAST and one game in the BEAST tournament they're a number 1 seed.

You giys missed this at the bottom

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[bilsu]

We will get a number 1 seed only if we win the Big East tournament and finish at least 16-2 in the conference.

[SCdem@MU]

We will get a number 1 seed only if we win the Big East tournament and finish at least 16-2 in the conference.

Nonsense. Whoever wins the BE, regardless of what their record is, will be a #1 seed.

The larger question is whether or not the BE will get two #1 seeds.

[wadesworld]

Only downside is that Katz choosing MU for team of the week took Player of the week away from McNeal.

Not necessarily.  He played great, and I'm not trying to take anything away from him at all, but Clemente scored 44 points in leading his team to a win against a better team than Georgetown (Texas) with less talent around him.  It did keep Jerel off of "The rest of the starting rotation this week:"  However, I'll take TEAM of the Week over PLAYER of the Week any week of the year, and I think Jerel would too.