[Cracked Sidewalks] 2011-12 Schedule

[CrackedSidewalksSays]

2011-12 Schedule

Written by: noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Buckley)

Marquette's 2011-12 schedule came out yesterday.   Here's a month by month break-down:

(bold = Home Games)

November
11- Friday - Mount St. Mary's (2010 Pomeroy: 267)
14- Monday - Norfolk State (302)
18- Friday - Winthrop (Paradise Jam - Virgin Islands)  (229)
19 or 20 - Mississippi (70) or Drake (200) (PJam)
21- Monday - TBA (Virginia- 94, TCU 173, Drexel 92, Norfolk 302)  (PJam)
28- Monday - Jacksonville (164)

November starts out with a couple of classic cupcakes at the Bradley Center, and on to a generally weak Paradise Jam field whose goal last year was reaching the NIT.    The Bradley Center faithful get one Friday night game, albeit a sugary opponent, unlikely to garner a large crowd.   If MU is as good as some think they are, we hit December with 6 wins.

December
3-Saturday @Wisconsin (2010 Pomeroy: 7)
6-Tuesday vs. Washington in NYC (17)
10-Saturday - UW-Green Bay / Brian Wardle Classic (156)
17-Saturday - Northern Colorado (126)
19-Monday - @LSU  (227)
22-Thursday - UW-Milwaukee (140)
29-Thursday - Vandy (35)

Warrior fans should be pleased with this December schedule.  Usually, December is the UW rival game plus 5 cupcakes.  This year, UW, Washington, and Vandy, NCAA contenders all.  The cupcakes, usually hovering in the 300+ RPI range, this year are in the 150 range, which will help the SOS.  Even the "biggest" cupcake, LSU at 227 is a road game, counting as 1.5 wins if we can take home a W in the Craig Pintens Classic. 


The Bradley Center gets two Saturday games, UW-Green Bay and N. Colorado.

MU pegs 4 wins, plus 1-2 or 3, and enters the BE schedule north of 10 wins.

January
1-Sunday - Villanova
4-Wednesday - @Georgetown
7-Saturday - @Syracuse
11-Wednesday - St. Johns
14-Saturday - Pittsburgh
16-Monday - Louisville (2:30pm)
21-Saturday - @Providence
24-Tuesday - USF
28-Saturday - @Villanova
31-Tuesday - Seton Hall

Ten tough games in 31 days?  Happy New Year.  January is like a month long NCAA tournament, playing 7+ games versus teams headed for the Dance.  The season starts with a brutal 3 game stretch, Nova, @GTown, @Syracuse (where we've never won.)  It's possible 7 days into the season, we could be 0-3, riding low.

The one oddity here is the Monday afternoon game versus Louisville at the Bradley Center, on MLK day.  Since only a scant 30% of the country has MLK day as a vacation day, this presents a scheduling problem for a large chunk of Bradley Center faithful. 

<rant> Frankly, as a season ticket holder, I'm personally irritated by this as Louisville is a premier team and rival, a game many look forward to each season.   While it's nice to have Marquette participating in "Big Monday" it does no good when half the audience is at work, earning money to, you know, afford the tickets in the first place.  "Just Take A Vacation Day" has been mentioned by many, as if to suggest vacation days are an endless and costless resource.  Marquette has irritated thousands of their loyal customers here, bowing to ESPN's siren scream. <end rant>

February
4-Saturday @ Notre Dame
6-Monday @ DePaul
11-Saturday - Cincinatti
18-Saturday @ UConn
22-Wednesday - Rutgers
24-Friday - @WVU
29-Wednesday - @Cincy - Leap Year Classic

7 games, 25 days.  Again, ouch.   Slightly easier than January in terms of opponents, but 5 of 7 on the road = a tough month.   Could win 3, could win 5-6.  I'm guessing Feb 11 is "National Marquette Day."

March
3- Saturday - Georgetown / Senior Night.
6-10 : Big East Tourney

Georgetown will be a tough final game, especially considering MU's four year Senior Night losing streak.  Well, maybe we're "due."

MU wins 8 of 9 BE home games + 3 or 4 roadies = 11-12 BE wins, plus another 11 OOC = 22 wins.

2011-12 Schedule Pluses

• Vastly Improved November & December non-conference schedule
• Only 2-3 Bradley Center Super-Cupcakes  (last few years, we averaged 6)
• Vandy
• Washington @ Madison Sq. Garden.  Good to get team at MSG, prior to BET.
• Paradise Jam
• Road game @LSU = 1.5 RPI wins.  I like this.
• Whopping 15 games on National TV: 1 CBS, 7 ESPNs, 7 ESPNU.

2011-12 Schedule Minuses

• Brutal 3 game start to BE: Nova, @GTown, @Cuse
• BE Mirror teams: Cincy, Nova, GTown = rough SOS
• Monday afternoon game vs. rival Louisville = lots of empty seats
• 5 Saturday games, 3 afternoon + 2 TBA cupcakes = no premier Saturday Night games. 
• Two of final three games on road
• No CUSA teams in Big East / easy wins.

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2011/09/2011-12-schedule.html

[Mr. Nielsen]

Why did you used pomeroy? Go by the RPI.

Get over this Saturday night thing!

[Bocephys]

<rant> Frankly, as a season ticket holder, I'm personally irritated by this as Louisville is a premier team and rival, a game many look forward to each season.   While it's nice to have Marquette participating in "Big Monday" it does no good when half the audience is at work, earning money to, you know, afford the tickets in the first place.  "Just Take A Vacation Day" has been mentioned by many, as if to suggest vacation days are an endless and costless resource.  Marquette has irritated thousands of their loyal customers here, bowing to ESPN's siren scream. <end rant>

<rant> I told the Big East I had bowling on Wednesday nights and they STILL scheduled four Big East MU games on that day.  What a ridiculous oversight on their part.</rant>

[Blue Horseshoe]

I really hate the use of "we" throughout the piece and mentioning a losing streak on senior night. Other than that, the analysis has me excited for the upcoming season.

[mu_hilltopper]

<rant> I told the Big East I had bowling on Wednesday nights and they STILL scheduled four Big East MU games on that day.  What a ridiculous oversight on their part.</rant>

Clearly, with 30+ games a year, X percent of all fans have scheduling issues with individual games, like your "bowling" example. 

Q: What percent of (non-student) ticket holders have scheduling issues with a Monday afternoon work day, in comparison? 
A: Around 70%, give or take, perhaps a factor of 30x more than usual.

Belittle the issue all you like.  Doesn't change the picture.

[Henry Sugar]

A - Nice to see you blogging, Kevin.

B - you sound like an old man about this Monday game thing.

C - RPI is some bullshit.  Pomeroy rules.

[brewcity77]

<rant> I told the Big East I had bowling on Wednesday nights and they STILL scheduled four Big East MU games on that day.  What a ridiculous oversight on their part.</rant>

I can't find the stat, but remember hearing that something like 75% of the workforce is on first shift. This is a major conflict for a heavy majority of season-ticket holders.

Everyone has schedule conflicts with certain games. However, there's a big difference between events in individual lives creating the scheduling conflict and the time of the game itself creating the scheduling conflict. Sure, Wednesday night bowling might impact 2-3% (and that's really generous) of season ticket holders on a Wednesday, but that's something under the control of the season ticket holder. This is under the control of the league, and it is going to impact about 75% of the season ticket holders. Your comparison holds absolutely no water.

[Mr. Nielsen]

It looked pack on TV last season when UConn played Nova.

As of 2007, 33% of Americans don't work that day.

[Mr. Nielsen]

<rant> I told the Big East I had bowling on Wednesday nights and they STILL scheduled four Big East MU games on that day.  What a ridiculous oversight on their part.</rant>

How dare Marquette play Seton Hall on Jan. 31, when UWM plays Youngstown State that same night at home as well. I can't be a two different places at the same time. 

[brewcity77]

It looked pack on TV last season when UConn played Nova.

I'm not saying they won't sell it out or fill the BC, but a much higher percentage of season-ticket holders than usual will have to sell their seats. I can assure you my seats will be occupied, I just doubt I'll be the one doing the occupying, and for Marquette-Louisville, that's complete and utter BS.

Pittsburgh, Villanova, or Georgetown would have been just as appealing of matchups to the people who aren't ardent fans of either MU or UL, and you don't punish the fans who can't get off.

[Mr. Nielsen]

I'm not saying they won't sell it out or fill the BC, but a much higher percentage of season-ticket holders than usual will have to sell their seats. I can assure you my seats will be occupied, I just doubt I'll be the one doing the occupying, and for Marquette-Louisville, that's complete and utter BS.

Pittsburgh, Villanova, or Georgetown would have been just as appealing of matchups to the people who aren't ardent fans of either MU or UL, and you don't punish the fans who can't get off.

I don't think the BC will be sold out.

8 of the 10 games in the NBA is during the dayand 1 NHL game is during the day on MLK day.
Baseball, has day games during the week.

I feel bad that you might not be able to come to this game, but this MLK game on ESPN is a good thing.

[hoyasincebirth]

Wow never realized so few people got off MLK. Since I'm a recent college graduate and all off my jobs have been affiliated with the Government I've always gotten all federal holidays off. I kind assumed that the point of federal holidays was that almost everyone got them off. I figured only retail and essentials didn't get off. I assumed that everyone with an office job got them them off, but apparently not.

[foreverwarriors]

MU-UW is a 3:30 start

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/129454433.html

[dgies9156]

Given my own estimation on a very unscientific "how do I feel" basis, I'm guessing this upcoming season will be a great year. The initial estimate is 24 wins and 7 losses, excluding the Big East tournament. I'm guessing big home wins against Vanderbilt, Villanova, Georgetown, Louisville and Cincinnati, plus huge road wins at Notre Dame and the Rodent Hole in Madison.

Much depends on the maturity of the team, but I'm pretty optimistic. 24-7 probably would earn us a Top 10 ranking going into the Big East tournament!

Of course, they may surprise us all. Everything is out the window once the season starts and the numbers above are predicated on significant team leadership, Vander stepping up -- and out -- and our newbies showing they're really Warriors.

24-7, back to the old days

[brewcity77]

Much depends on the maturity of the team, but I'm pretty optimistic. 24-7 probably would earn us a Top 10 ranking going into the Big East tournament!

Of course, they may surprise us all. Everything is out the window once the season starts and the numbers above are predicated on significant team leadership, Vander stepping up -- and out -- and our newbies showing they're really Warriors.

24-7, back to the old days

Maybe...but more likely not. Going into the conference tourneys last year, the highest ranked 7-loss team was Wisconsin at #13. Louisville was #14 with 8 losses. In 2010 and 2009 there was one team with 7 losses in the top-10 going into the tourneys (both times Ohio State at 24-7). Not that it really matters.

Personally, I think that our potential bugaboo is how tough our schedule is. We could go 13-0 in non-conference (I think 12-1 or 11-2 are more likely), but when you consider "cupcakes" like Northern Colorado (made the tourney last year) and Jacksonville (beat Florida at Florida last year) this team needs to be focused to do that. Then we could still struggle when you consider we have 13 games against teams that reached the tourney last year in conference (17 overall). That means we'd need to go at least 12-6 against a brutal conference schedule.

I really feel this could be a special year, but know this. If we're top-10 come conference tourney time, we'll have earned it, maybe more so than any other team in the nation.

[dgies9156]

It's my old friend Brew again! I think you are shadowing me!

OK, Brew you're right except that if we're 24-7, we will have to have beaten some really tough teams. Wisconsin plays in the Big 10, which is the minor leagues compared to the Big East. I think the combination of the shock value of Marquette being 24-7, the nostalgia of the Al days and the toughness of our schedule might make us a Top 10 team if we perform at that level. Probaly ranked 8th to 10th.

Yeup, I remember going to the Arena and regularly hearing our player introductions, with the caveat, "This week, ranked 4th in AP and 5th in UPI (coaches)."

Is it possible, yea. If we beat Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Villanova, Georgetown and Notre Dame, I think we will be. Knock off UConn and Syracuse on the road and we will be in the Top 5!!!!!!

[foreverwarriors]

yes...the nostalgia for the Al days will bump us up at least 7 spots

[dgies9156]

yes...the nostalgia for the Al days will bump us up at least 7 spots

As goofy as the media is, don't bet against it!!!!!

[brewcity77]

Is it possible, yea. If we beat Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Villanova, Georgetown and Notre Dame, I think we will be. Knock off UConn and Syracuse on the road and we will be in the Top 5!!!!!!

My guess is our non-conference will determine our ranking more than anything this year. If we win out, we'll likely have beaten three ranked teams (Washington, Wisky, Vandy) and I expect we'd be top-10 by New Year's. With the strength of the Big East, as long as we won more than we lost, even a 10-8 or 11-7 season would probably have us still in that 10-15 range, with the potential to be top-5 if we go 13-5 or better in the Big East.

If we lose one of those games, we'll probably be around #15 and stay in that general area. Lose all three and we'll probably stick on the fringes of being ranked and unranked for the entire season.

Of course, this is assuming a 10-8 to 12-6 type Big East season.