NIT or NCAA

[brewcity77]

We've played like an NIT one so far, and frankly, one that won't go far in the NIT. My sincere hope is that this team grows together in the next month. The advantage to the Big East is that there are still plenty of quality wins out there to be had. My biggest worry is that if we lose to Vandy, we probably need to get 12 wins in the Big East. That won't be easy this year.

[TallTitan34]

We have no quality wins HOWEVER we have no bad losses.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

I'm disappointed in the loss, and MU didn't look great.

I don't understand Buzz's rotation right now, but I hope he does, because I'm afraid it could become a psychological issue for the guys.

With this said, MU's best offensive player is just lost right now, and they coughed up some long rebounds (ie back-breakers). I can't be that upset about all some the offensive rebounds UW got, because a handful of them came off long, and sometimes it's just luck if you get the ball. I know we all long hustle and positioning, but sometimes it just comes off towards a Badger player. Can't freak out about that.

I think the team has some growing to do, but a couple of small tweaks (maybe DJO gets hot) and some good luck, and they will be good. A win at Vandy wouldn't shock me.

[mileskishnish72]

Not to be a wiseass, but I think the poll needs a "None of the above" choice.

Very disheartened by what we've seen so far - a winning record in the BE seems like a pipe dream at present, and I think we're heading for a losing league record. I hope like hell that things change, and that in Feb. and March posters are pointing out how wrong I was - I won't mind it a bit.

[mu_hilltopper]

We have no quality wins HOWEVER we have no bad losses.

That should get us in!   No bad losses!   That could be our slogan.

.. but seriously .. that may be about right.  Look .. we're in the hunt for an at-large bid -- like always.  So the question is, are we one of the best ~45 teams in that group.  The answer is .. we've played 3 teams in that group, and have been handled.   (Although with the Zags at 4-5 now, they are looking very bubblish)   We're probably in the 60-75 range. 

We won't have bad losses, but you need to beat a few <64 to show you belong in that group.

[leever]

Right now, this team cannot rebpound well enough to beat a bigger team.  And, it can't shoot well enough to beat any team playing a reasonably good zone.

No NC wins and the loss to Gonzaga is not looking like a 'quality' loss at the moment.

So, right now, this is an NIT team.

[BrewCity83]

If the tournaments were selected today, we'd be in the NIT.  However, we still have 14-15 games left against top 50 teams, and about 7 of those are at home.  I expect that we will get a bunch of good wins once our luck turns and DJO gets hot.  It doesn't really matter yet that much what we've done...there's still lots of work to do.

[TallTitan34]

We have no quality wins HOWEVER we have no bad losses.

The Big East season will give us plenty of chances to get our quality wins.  Ten Big East wins coupled with no bad losses (home vs. DePaul, Seton Hall, etc.) would be enough to get us on the right side of the bubble. 

[MUBurrow]

i voted NIT. not necessarily because I think this team can't or won't get better, but more just because we are already running out of big games to build a resume.  we've only got one big out of conference test, and if we lose 1-2 conference games we shouldn't, our goose is cooked without a BEast championship game appearance in the tourney.  with a team this young and yet to gel, I have to assume we drop one or two that are penciled in as Ws today.
* Disclaimer - this team has BEast tourney run written all over it. We are deep, young, and high tempo.  We are the perfect build to wear down lesser teams over 2-3 days and to outgun teams that may have already secured a bid and are somewhat apathetic.

[79Warrior]

NIT.   No quality wins out of conference will be a killer.  

Agreed. that is a resume killer

[Mutaman]

Personally, I think MU looks and plays like an NIT team right now.

Interesting, When I said the same thing several weeks ago, you said it was "one of the dumbest posts" you've ever seen.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Interesting, When I said the same thing several weeks ago, you said it was "one of the dumbest posts" you've ever seen.

You don't say.    Paging Lenny...paging Lenny

[MerrittsMustache]

Interesting, When I said the same thing several weeks ago, you said it was "one of the dumbest posts" you've ever seen.

Not true. Your post that calls out several MU players as being overrated and lists vague reasons as to why (a post you re-posted on this thread) is what I called one of the dumbest posts I've ever seen on these boards. Yes, you did mention the NIT at the end of your basketball ignorant post but it's the part before that which made me call you out. If you had simply said, "MU looks and plays like an NIT team right now," that would be entirely different.

Selective memory is fun, isn't it? Has Chicos been mentoring you?

[Mutaman]

Not true. Your post that calls out several MU players as being overrated and lists vague reasons as to why (a post you re-posted on this thread) is what I called one of the dumbest posts I've ever seen on these boards. Yes, you did mention the NIT at the end of your basketball ignorant post but it's the part before that which made me call you out. If you had simply said, "MU looks and plays like an NIT team right now," that would be entirely different.

Selective memory is fun, isn't it? Has Chicos been mentoring you?

The posts speak for themselves. Isn't it amazing how smart I've become in the past few weeks.

[MerrittsMustache]

The posts speak for themselves. Isn't it amazing how smart I've become in the past few weeks.

Chicos must have gotten a little misty-eyed when he read this post from his protege.

[MarquetteDano]

A little too many posters around here gloating when their supposed team loses.  Sounds like a true fan (fragile egos vs. Marquette wins... they'll take Marquette losses to protect the fragile ego).   

[ChicosBailBonds]

A little too many posters around here gloating when their supposed team loses.  Sounds like a true fan (fragile egos vs. Marquette wins... they'll take Marquette losses to protect the fragile ego).   

We all want our team to win.  We all love MU.  We don't like it when we call an ace an ace and get bush wacked for doing so.  Loving a team does not mean pretending that the team is infallible.....how would Cubs fans survive for a century?   

MU has a lot of talent and hopefully they can get this thing pointed in the right direction.  They're not that far off....future is bright.

[MerrittsMustache]

+1,000,000 to MarquetteDano

[Nukem2]

Way too early to talk NIT.  Last year MU had those 3 losses going into the BE season and promplty lost several more games in the BE.  Lets give Buzz and Co. some wiggle room here.

[brewcity77]

Way too early to talk NIT.  Last year MU had those 3 losses going into the BE season and promplty lost several more games in the BE.  Lets give Buzz and Co. some wiggle room here.

I think it's fair to consider...last year we also had wins over Xavier and Michigan, both of which looked like good wins (the Wolverines were ranked #15 when we played them IIRC) and despite having 3 losses, there were more positives to offset them. If we beat Vandy we'll be back on the bubble, but if we lose that game and come out of non-conference with zero quality non-con wins, it'll take a titanic effort to get to the NCAAs.

[redddog13]

This board was great when it was smaller..   Now, unfortunately it has become almost unreadable.

Hoping they can grow as a team in time to be on the right side of the bubble. 

[marquette99]

Ncaa.don't believe out of conference quality wins matter as long as you have quality wins in the conference and the conference has many quality wins.

We have a tougher schedule than last year when 22 wins got us a 6-seed.  No way we need 22 to make it.

[NersEllenson]

Just to bump this thread..interesting how voting played out:  60% to 40% vote favoring NIT over NCAA postseason tourney.  Still a long way to go..and we'll definitely know a lot more about our likely fate in the next 3-4 weeks...

[Coleman]

Just to bump this thread..interesting how voting played out:  60% to 40% vote favoring NIT over NCAA postseason tourney.  Still a long way to go..and we'll definitely know a lot more about our likely fate in the next 3-4 weeks...

Still sounds about right to me. We're definitely in the hunt right now but I'd still place our chances at about 40/60 of getting in. I think we'll make it but if Selection Sunday were today that would pretty much be our odds...