It's Our Championship To Lose

[TallTitan34]

Winning 4 of the last 5 games clinches the Big East Championship as long as the one loss comes against either Georgetown or Syracuse.

Beating Pitt, UConn, and Louisville would give us the tiebreaker over all of these teams in addition to giving them another loss.  Since we give them another loss we are able to lose against Syracuse or Georgetown. 

And this is assuming the teams do not lose to anyone other than us.  There are some games that aren't a gimme for each of these three teams.

Remaining Pitt Games:
DePaul
@ Providence
@ Seton Hall
Marquette
UConn

Remaining Louisville Games:
@ Cincinnati
@ Georgetown
Marquette
Seton Hall
@ West Virginia

Remaining UConn Games:
South Florida
@ Marquette
Notre Dame
Pitt

[ErickJD08]

Winning 4 of the last 5 games clinches the Big East Championship as long as the one loss comes against either Georgetown or Syracuse.

Beating Pitt, UConn, and Louisville would give us the tiebreaker over all of these teams in addition to giving them another loss.  Since we give them another loss we are able to lose against Syracuse or Georgetown. 

And this is assuming the teams do not lose to anyone other than us.  There are some games that aren't a gimme for each of these three teams.

Remaining Pitt Games:
DePaul
@ Providence
@ Seton Hall
Marquette
UConn

Remaining Louisville Games:
@ Cincinnati
@ Georgetown
Marquette
Seton Hall
@ West Virginia

Remaining UConn Games:
South Florida
@ Marquette
Notre Dame
Pitt

Do we get a banner or anything for having the best record in the BE?  I thought that the BE Tourney is the only thing that matters. 

On a side note, is there any way we wouldn't be number 2 if we win 5 straight, number 1 if OK loses?

[TallTitan34]

That's what winning C-USA in 2003 was.

At the AL they have updated the banners removing many of them.  The 2003 C-USA Conference Championship is listed on a banner which lists all of Marquette's conference championships.

Look for something similar to what's at the AL to be done at the Bradley Center.

[MDMU04]

Let's not start hanging banners just yet.  Wouldn't winning 4 out of 5 games for any of the other teams at the top of the standings clinch the championship for them too?

At this point, the double-bye in the Big East tournament is ours to lose.  We have a 2 game lead (loss column) on Villanova with 5 to play, and we own the tiebreaker against them.  But anything beyond that?

The schedule MU faces over the last 5 games is more difficult than anything they could possibly face for the rest of the season.  The NCAA tournament will not even be a gauntlet in comparison to what is coming up to finish the rest of the regular season.  Look at the latest bracketology:

We will be playing a #1 seed (Pitt) and a #2 seed (UL) on their home courts.  We will be playing another #1 seed (UConn) and a #6 seed (Syracuse) at home.

We're tied in the loss column with Pitt, UL, and UConn.  We have a far more difficult schedule than any of them do over the remainder of the season.

If we lose to Georgetown on Saturday, we'd have to win the final 4 games in a row.  In terms of degree of difficulty, winning the final four consecutive games on the schedule this season would arguably be the greatest stretch of victories in Marquette Basketball history.  That is not hyperbole.

[NavinRJohnson]

Give me the 2 wins I have been hoping for from this stretch since the season began, and I'll be happy. Three wins and I'll be ecstatic. Four wins, and to describe my reaction would likely get this post deleted.

[lab_warrior]

Yeah, it's nice to be optimistic, and by all means, I think we CAN win all of our remaining games, if we play great basketball.  But I am taking the "Winston Wolf" approach to these last 5 games. 

Let's just start by playing well at Hoya Saxa on Saturday.

[Brewtown Andy]

We have a 2 game lead (loss column) on Villanova with 5 to play, and we own the tiebreaker against them.

What's the second tiebreaker level, since we split with Nova?

We're tied in the loss column with Pitt, UL, and UConn.  We have a far more difficult schedule than any of them do over the remainder of the season.

The upside is that we get to play each of them.

[MDMU04]

What's the second tiebreaker level, since we split with Nova?

West Virginia beat Villanova last week giving us a bit of a cushion.  It's contingent on other things happening, but it's still technically an advantage.

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2009/02/go-huggins-wvu-win-tonight-cold-prove.html

[boyonthedock]

"The schedule MU faces over the last 5 games is more difficult than anything they could possibly face for the rest of the season.  The NCAA tournament will not even be a gauntlet in comparison to what is coming up to finish the rest of the regular season.  Look at the latest bracketology:

We will be playing a #1 seed (Pitt) and a #2 seed (UL) on their home courts.  We will be playing another #1 seed (UConn) and a #6 seed (Syracuse) at home."

actually, we could conceivably play a stretch EXACTLY this difficult in th NCAA's. as it stands, we are most likely a #3 seed, so our 2nd round match up would likelt be a #6 (Syracuse). Sweet 16 would be against a 2 (like Louisville), the elite 8 could easily be the #1 seed from the regional, and the same with the final four and championship match up. this stretch of games is almost exactly as difficult as a run to national championship is for a #3 seed, especially with g-town looking at a 12 seed, it makes it even more like the tourney.

[dsfire]

TT, the last UConn game should be @Pitt, I believe.

The Big East website has a link to the BET seeding tiebreakers, but it's from last year: http://www.bigeast.org/fls/19400/pdfs/mensbball/tiebreaker07.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=19400&KEY=&SPID=11228&SPSID=94715
I can't imagine they've changed significantly.  If we end up tied with Nova (and no one else, as the procedure changes for 3+ teams tied), then they'll start comparing records against other teams in the conference, starting from the top.  Presumably this adds importance to our Pitt (0-1 against Nova) and UConn (1-0 against Nova) games.

[MUMountin]

West Virginia beat Villanova last week giving us a bit of a cushion.  It's contingent on other things happening, but it's still technically an advantage.

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2009/02/go-huggins-wvu-win-tonight-cold-prove.html

I would note that one of the "other things" that it is contingent on is us beating Pitt--not the greatest assumption to make.  Also, this assumes the KenPom predictions will all be correct, which is also a long shot.   

[TallTitan34]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this will happen.  I'm saying that these guys have put themselves in the position, 13 games into the season, to control their destiny regardless of what other teams do.

But yes, this stretch will rival even the toughest NCAA tournament path.

[NotAnAlum]

How do we "own the tie breaker against Nova".  They are 1-2 against the likely top 3.  We have yet to play the top 3 but I'd be thrilled with 1-2.  Dependant on who finishes first (in my mind likey Pitt) and who we are fortunate enough to win our game against Nova could very easily "own the tie breaker against us"   

[Skatastrophy]

How do we "own the tie breaker against Nova".  They are 1-2 against the likely top 3.  We have yet to play the top 3 but I'd be thrilled with 1-2.  Dependant on who finishes first (in my mind likey Pitt) and who we are fortunate enough to win our game against Nova could very easily "own the tie breaker against us"   

We own the tie-breaker against Nova based on games played thus far.  We beat WVU and Nova lost to them.  You can speculate if you wish, but for the time being we own the tie-breaker.