Lunardi still has MU in...

[TheButlerDidIt]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology

[jfmu]

against Tennessee...how wonderful would it be to see TM

[dwaderoy2004]

win 4 of 5 and we're a lock for the tourney.  go 3-2 and we should be in with a win in the BEAST tourney.  Would have been a big win last night, but not a killer loss by any stretch of the imagination.

[willie warrior]

Find that hard to believe, with our RPI at what 68?

We now have a 3 game roadie, and definitely will not win all of those.

Besides, Lunardi is not on selection committee.

[dwaderoy2004]

believe what you want.  but 20-10 and 11-7 in the big east would be a lock.  especially with the soft bubble.

[Marquette_g]

We need 3 wins and we are in.  10-8 in the Big East is enough to get in.

FWIW I think: @ Seton Hall is the huge game. 

I think we lose @Cincy and vs. Louisville and win @St. John's and vs. ND.  A .500 record doesn't seem like it will be quite enough.

[chapman]

I will not fault the selection committee or claim we got snubbed if we go 10-8 and beat one more bottom half team in the BET and they don't let us in.  Any other team and I'd claim they probably don't belong.  It's either 4-1 and a win in the BET, 3-2 with two wins, or no complaining.

[OhioGoldenEagle]

It's really tough to say what MU needs in terms of Big East victories.  With the Pac10 so down, many are saying they will only get 1....2 at most.  You would think a situation like that would open more spots.   On top of that, it looks like the Big10 may only get 5 which is unusual of late.  So where do all of these available openings get rewarded?  The A10? WAC?  I foresee the committee having a very tough tournament to seed.......which could very well lead to the 96 team proposal that has been discussed so much of late.

Disclaimer:  Regardless of whether or not MU makes the tourney this year, I am in no way supporting an expansion.

[GOMU1104]

10-8 in the Big East is enough to get in.

The 2008-2009 Providence Friars are still waiting for their bid.

[lab_warrior]

The 08-09 Friars didn't have the nice luxury of a mid-major level Pac10.  That conference is trash, and is only getting 1 bid.  What will hurt us is if some of these 1-bid conferences (I'm looking at you, Gonzaga!) offer a surprise auto-bid from an upset in the championship games.

[ErickJD08]

We need 3 wins and we are in.  10-8 in the Big East is enough to get in.

FWIW I think: @ Seton Hall is the huge game. 

I think we lose @Cincy and vs. Louisville and win @St. John's and vs. ND.  A .500 record doesn't seem like it will be quite enough.

Agreed.  The loss against Pitt makes every game basically a must win.

[Marquette_g]

The 2008-2009 Providence Friars are still waiting for their bid.

Fair point, I should have said - I believe 10-8 in the Big East will be enough to get in this year.

[Jacks DC]

The 08-09 Friars didn't have the nice luxury of a mid-major level Pac10.  That conference is trash, and is only getting 1 bid.  What will hurt us is if some of these 1-bid conferences (I'm looking at you, Gonzaga!) offer a surprise auto-bid from an upset in the championship games.

However Providence did have the luxury of playing in what many called the best basketball conference ever and beating the #1 team in the country in late February and still didn't get in.

[dsfire]

2009 Providence also had the luxury of going 8-4 with no signature wins in non-conference.  The "bad losses" section of their resume wasn't as bad as ours is, though.

[Henry Sugar]

I believe four more wins gets us in the NCAA tournament (including the BET), probably as an 11 or 12 seed.  We're probably still sweating it on Selection Sunday, though.

[MarquetteDano]

The 08-09 Friars didn't have the nice luxury of a mid-major level Pac10.  That conference is trash, and is only getting 1 bid.  What will hurt us is if some of these 1-bid conferences (I'm looking at you, Gonzaga!) offer a surprise auto-bid from an upset in the championship games.

PAC-10 is down but the A-10 and SEC each only had 3 bids last year.  This year they will get 9 between them.  Big 12 will also add a team from last year.  Big 10 will get one less.  And then you still have the Conference tourneys.  You have to figure at least one upset.

When it is all said and done, 10-8 is prob not going to do it unless we win 2-3 games in the BEast tourney.

[flash]

10-8 will get us in, providence didnt make it because of their weak non conference schedule, im not saying ours is stellar but it is better than theirs was.  their best non confersnce win was vs rhode island probably.  we have wins against xavier, a michigan.

[MarquetteDano]

10-8 will get us in, providence didnt make it because of their weak non conference schedule, im not saying ours is stellar but it is better than theirs was.  their best non confersnce win was vs rhode island probably.  we have wins against xavier, a michigan.

I think we have a semantic issue in what "getting in" means in this thread.  Can we get in with 10 wins and no Big East conf wins?  Maybe.  But anyone who says "we are in" and will not be sweating on Selection Sunday is not being honest.

I would prefer not be wondering what upsets could occur and sweating it out.  To avoid that, 11-7 and a win in the BEast tourney is the way to be sure.  If we only go 10-8, I would say 2 wins in the BEast tourney to feel safe.

[ChicosBailBonds]

We need 3 wins and we are in.  10-8 in the Big East is enough to get in.

FWIW I think: @ Seton Hall is the huge game. 

I think we lose @Cincy and vs. Louisville and win @St. John's and vs. ND.  A .500 record doesn't seem like it will be quite enough.

It wasn't last year....it all depends who the 10 wins are against.

I still think we have a great shot, but need to win 2 of 3 on the road.  Cincy is going to be tough, I think that's a loss.  Which leave SJU and Seton Hall.

[VegasWarrior77]

Seton Hall will be a tough game too!

[avid1010]

Find that hard to believe, with our RPI at what 68?

We now have a 3 game roadie, and definitely will not win all of those.

Besides, Lunardi is not on selection committee.

You are correct about Lunardi not being on the selection committee, but I'm still going to go ahead and give his opinion the nod over yours.  Obviously the RPI didn't bother him enough to keep MU out. 

[ATWizJr]

Lunardi, si
Willie, no

[Doris Burkes Thong]

I wonder how much Lunardi makes for his bracketology gig?

[gumbyandpokey]

We need 3 wins and we are in.  10-8 in the Big East is enough to get in.

FWIW I think: @ Seton Hall is the huge game. 

I think we lose @Cincy and vs. Louisville and win @St. John's and vs. ND.  A .500 record doesn't seem like it will be quite enough.

Under that scenario, even if MU beats Seton Hall, that's just not that strong a resume, imo.  i think they have to beat Louisville.

[bamamarquettefan]

Lunardi isn't the Selection Committee ... true, but since he is the only guy who ever nails the entire field correctly I'd say he's a good barometer.  RPI is too low, but the close losses against top teams are going to help us.  As bad as we played against Pitt, we are still one of only 6 teams in the country that hasn't lost by double digits yet this season.  We get a lot of play for how many close losses we've had against the top teams, and that may not officially be on the resume but it's obviously affecting us being BARELY in with 5 to go.  Upset conference winners are my biggest fear if we play well.