Yes the sun came up, but...

[NavinRJohnson]

I thought things would look a little better in the light of day, but I think I may actually be more disappointed today - there just doesn't appear to be much reason to be optimistic. We go into a tough first round match-up, created because the committee wanted to be cute, without one of our two most important players and a very good chance we are going to come out with a loss. If we manage to win that little made for TV drama, our reward is a game against UNC in NC. Sorry, but the usual joy and anticipation of the NCAA tournament just isn't there this year. Assuming our season is over in less than a week, it can in fact get worse as we will be subject to the deludge of Badger coverage as long as they are playing.

I haven't given up on the season necessarily, but a win (or two) would certainly do wonders for my attitude. At the moment I am not a real excited fan.

I think getting a win on Thursday is fairly important from a program perspective to take another step and build some momentum around next season. We've tasted defeat. Now we need to taste victory. Beyond that, win or lose, that game against UNC could be huge from an experience standpoint. We haven't exactly sprinted toward the finish line this year, so I'd like to see us have a good weekend and find something to build on next year.

[AlumKCof93]

I'm getting over the disappointment of our seed, but I must admit that our seeding has caused me to be less excited than I typically am about the tourney than usual.  That said, I think we'll beat MSU and than have a great opportunity to do some damage in game 2.

[NYWarrior]

I am very optimistic on thursday's game.....lets get through that first.  MSU is a good team, but a beatable team.  if they go man to man, Walton will have to guard James (interesting since MU recruited both), meaning Neitzel will have to guard Matthews.  Time for a zone from Izzo?  I think so.

Raymar Morgan will be MU's toughest matchup......6'7" athletic wing player.  Yuck, guys like this kill MU.

still, I love MU's chances to get a win on Thursday

[RawdogDX]

I don't know about you, but the fact that UNC starts three freshmen has been the thing keeping me from losing all hope.  Not how i wanted to feel going into the greatest sporting event in the world.

[IAmMarquette]

I don't know about you, but the fact that UNC starts three freshmen has been the thing keeping me from losing all hope.  Not how i wanted to feel going into the greatest sporting event in the world.

I think that will definitely play to our advantage, along with Hansborough's struggles against bigger guys, and his being bothered by that mask.

Brandan Wright scares the sh*t out of me.

Last time we faced a Roy Williams team we got run out of the building (although we're head & shoulders more athletic this time around - no offense to DWade, Travis and the others), but I do think our back court vs. UNC's is a toss up, while Ouse runs the floor exceptionally well for a big man. Still wouldn't be surprised to see nothing but the 'Heels heels, though.

UNC can make hockey-style line changes without losing much. We're not nearly that deep, especially without Jerel.

It's in Winston-Salem, for crying out loud.

Yeesh...

This is all assuming, of course, that we can slow down Neitzel and get past MSU on Thursday.

[WashDCWarrior]

This is all assuming, of course, that we can slow down Neitzel and get past MSU on Thursday.

I've only seen MSU play for portions of a couple games this year.  How good is Neitzel?  Comporable to Diener?

[IAmMarquette]

This is all assuming, of course, that we can slow down Neitzel and get past MSU on Thursday.

I've only seen MSU play for portions of a couple games this year.  How good is Neitzel?  Comporable to Diener?

Not sure where to find Diener's career stats, but here are Neitzel's...
Season Averages
SEASON      MIN PTS REB   AST  TO  A/T  STL  BLK  PF    FG%  FT%  3P%  PPS
2004-2005  16.4  3.5   .7    2.9  1.4  2.06  .5    .0    1.5  .381  .650  .327  1.02
2005-2006  32.9  8.3   2.0  5.6  1.9  2.86   .6    .1    1.8  .408  .932  .404  1.18
2006-2007  35.5  18.1 2.8   4.3  2.3 1.86   .8     .3   1.2  .434  .881  .417  1.39

His 06-07 Game log is available here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/gamelogplayerId=22393