Of the teams 6-5 in the BE both

[79Warrior]

WVU and Cincy each have 5 more games against Top 25 teams.  Somebody is going to break down the last few weeks. We have two remaining against Top 25. On paper, our chances look pretty good to stay ahead of at least one of those two in the standings.

[NavinRJohnson]

Marquette will finish ahead of both. I like their chances of finishing at least even with (and this ahead of via tie break) Syracuse as well.

[mrr1981]

And Marquette is only a half game behind Syracuse and they have 3 road games remaining against top 15 teams. 

[Golden Avalanche]

WVU and Cincy each have 5 more games against Top 25 teams.  Somebody is going to break down the last few weeks. We have two remaining against Top 25. On paper, our chances look pretty good to stay ahead of at least one of those two in the standings.

More importantly, of the quartet at the bottom of the totem pole trying to get into the Tournament Marquette has already beat WVU and gets SJU and UC at home. Regardless of their breaking down, MU holds the cards in their hands to show the committee they are clearly the 8th or 9th best team in this conference. Do that, and there is no sweating on Sunday.

[brewcity77]

Marquette will finish ahead of both. I like their chances of finishing at least even with (and this ahead of via tie break) Syracuse as well.

We have plenty of upward mobility. Win the games we should win and we go 11-7, and if we can pull off an upset against Georgetown, 12-6 is a reality. Do that, and as crazy as it sounds, we could finish in a tie with Notre Dame for second. Pitt seems like a lock to win the regular season crown, but everyone else is in a logjam. According to kenpom, 'Nova, Louisville, UConn, and Syracuse are all projected for 11-7. Georgetown is projected for 12-6. Sunday's game could flip everything. We go on pace for 12-6, ahead of everyone in the conference except for Pitt.

We still have to avoid the bad loss, which we may have escaped yesterday. Take care of business at home, and we're a legitimate shot for 2nd or 3rd place in the Big East, which I wouldn't have even dreamed of after losing 3 out of 4 to fall to 4-4.

[DCWarriors04]

With 7 games left anything is possible...things bounce the right way we could find ourselves sitting any where from 4th to 10th in the BEast when the BEast tournament rolls around. Am I being overly optimistic, yeah, but there is still a long way to go before the regular season comes to an end.

Despite being a God awful ugly win last night, that might be what this team needed going down the stretch. Maybe they took USF for granted, maybe they were looking towards Sunday...who knows, but I wouldn't be shocked to see this team come out the next 7 games and play inspired ball going into the tournaments.

[NavinRJohnson]

We have plenty of upward mobility. Win the games we should win and we go 11-7, and if we can pull off an upset against Georgetown, 12-6 is a reality. Do that, and as crazy as it sounds, we could finish in a tie with Notre Dame for second. Pitt seems like a lock to win the regular season crown, but everyone else is in a logjam. According to kenpom, 'Nova, Louisville, UConn, and Syracuse are all projected for 11-7. Georgetown is projected for 12-6. Sunday's game could flip everything. We go on pace for 12-6, ahead of everyone in the conference except for Pitt.

We still have to avoid the bad loss, which we may have escaped yesterday. Take care of business at home, and we're a legitimate shot for 2nd or 3rd place in the Big East, which I wouldn't have even dreamed of after losing 3 out of 4 to fall to 4-4.

You are correct. Sunday's game would be huge, were MU to win, and set them up very nicely. On the other hand, it is no big deal if they lose.

As I have said before, at 6-5 MU is exactly where I thought they would/should be at this point. They have played the 4th toughest schedule in the BE (kenpom.com). The combined record of the 3 teams that have played a tougher schedule is 9-24. Syracuse, currently ranked #12 in the country, whom MU has beaten, is next with the 5th toughest, and is a half game better than MU at 7-5. Conversely, the average schedule strength of the top 6 teams in the conference (combined record of 47-20) is 11.3. Do I think many of those teams are better than MU? Yes, I do, but at the same time, with 1 or 2 possible exceptions, I don't think the gap is very wide, and I'm not exactly sure where all the doom and gloom comes from, or what exactly people were expecting.

For those who are disappointed, show me the game that MU lost, that you feel they should have been expected to win (UConn is the only one I would really consider). You can be upset with some of the circumstances, but none of that matters come March. If you feel MU has under-performed, or should be better, you need to back that up, and demonstrate it with wins and losses. Where are the bad losses, or fluky wins? There are none (Their luck ranking near dead last in the country is a great indication that they are performing almost exactly as they should be expected to).

[bilsu]

Syracuse, Uconn, Villanova and Louisville can lose a lot of games yet. Villanova has Pitt twice. Syracuse and Louisville play each other next. One of them will have lost two games in a row. In the end Pitt, Notre Dame and Georgetown will be the top 3 with a big scramble below them. MU will be looking very good if they can win all their home games and one more road game, which probably would be good for 5th place.

[RawdogDX]

For those who are disappointed, show me the game that MU lost, that you feel they should have been expected to win (UConn is the only one I would really consider). 

Gonzaga.

[brewcity77]

Gonzaga.

+1

I'd be curious to see our rating for that game. It seemed to me to be one of the worst games we played all year, and we still had a chance to win because Gonzaga was flat out awful. That game was simply bad basketball on both sides.

[avid1010]

Gonzaga.

+1...looking at the team that lost to Gonzaga compared to the team that has played in the BEAST....I'd say Buzz got the train back on the track. 

[NoCheese]

The team has a different complexion now then when the season started. I think each kid has a better understanding of his role. The transfer of Reggie Miller has only helped. I'd love to see MU play Gonzaga again. NO doubt MU would win. Heck, I'd like another shot at Wisconsin and Vanderbilt.

[ChicosBailBonds]

For those who are disappointed, show me the game that MU lost, that you feel they should have been expected to win (UConn is the only one I would really consider).

Preseason, I would have said

UCONN
Wisconsin

Once the season started and I realized how bad or good some teams were

Gonzaga

[77ncaachamps]

Who's not counting his chicks before they hatch?

[jsglow]

With St John's crushing UConn tonight, I think they enter the conversation and that game next Tuesday looms large.

[rocky_warrior]

With St John's crushing UConn tonight, I think they enter the conversation and that game next Tuesday looms large.

Wow, I'm glad we get them at home.  Not that past results matter, but SJU has generally been giant killers at home (Duke, ND, Gtown, Uconn* wins), and pretty mediocre away.

[NavinRJohnson]

UConn also enters the "teams we may well finish in front of" conversation in a big way as well.

[bilsu]

Of the 5 loss teams which are Uconn, Syracuse, St. John's, Cincy, W.V. and MU, St John's is the most dangerous and the Big East tournament is in their backyard. We need to avoid them in the Big East tournament. After this weekend the 5 loss teams could number 8. St. John's and Cincy play each other, so mone will get their 6th loss.

Villanova (5) loss to Pitt
Georgetown (5) loss to MU (5)
Louisville (5) loss to Syracuse (5)
Uconn (5) beats Providence
West Virginia (5) beats DePaul
St John's vs Cincy would make 8

[NavinRJohnson]

BTW, how is it possible that UConn and stud freshman Jeremy Lamb, has an identical 6-5 record to MU, with that complete bust Vander Blue?

[jaygall31]

BTW, how is it possible that UConn and stud freshman Jeremy Lamb, has an identical 6-5 record to MU, with that complete bust Vander Blue?

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