[Enlund's Blog] Marquette No. 21 in preseason coaches poll

[TomEnlundSays]

Marquette No. 21 in preseason coaches poll
               



Marquette checked in at No. 21 in the ESPN/USA Today men's basketball preseason coaches' poll released Thursday, joining five other Big East teams in the top 25.

Defending national champion Connecticut is No. 4, followed by No. 5 Syracuse, No. 8 Louisville, No. 11 Pittsburgh and No. 22 Cincinnati.

North Carolina opened at No. 1.

Marquette reached the Sweet 16 and finished 20th in the poll last season.

See complete poll
               

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/132262713.html
               

[ecompt]

Wow. One blogger pointed out we have 15 games against Top 25 teams. Can't complain about our SOS this season.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Can't complain about our SOS this season.

Don't worry, somebody will.

[MUMac]

Don't worry, somebody will.

+100000000000000000000000

[brewcity77]

It's not just top-25 teams, but the number of sub-250 RPI teams as well. Norfolk State we didn't really have any choice in. And zero sub-300 teams as well. Our SOS will be excellent.

[AZWarrior]

See?   

Anyway, I hate it when the issue gets clouded by a factual post.

[Skatastrophy]

At what point to we unsubscribe the forum from this joker's blog?

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

No complaints from me about our schedule this year. Last year's was great, too.

Once Buzz got his hands on the tiller our schedule has been stellar.

[jfmu]

It's not just top-25 teams, but the number of sub-250 RPI teams as well. Norfolk State we didn't really have any choice in. And zero sub-300 teams as well. Our SOS will be excellent.

not according to Katz

MARQUETTE

Toughest: at Wisconsin (Dec. 3), vs. Washington in NYC (Dec. 6), Vanderbilt (Dec. 29)
Next-toughest: Paradise Jam (Nov. 18-21), at LSU (Dec. 19)
The rest: Mount St. Mary's (Nov. 11), Norfolk State (Nov. 14), Jacksonville (Nov. 28), Green Bay (Dec. 10), Northern Colorado (Dec. 17), Milwaukee (Dec. 22)
Toughness scale (1-10): 6 -- The Golden Eagles play a preseason top-10 team in Vandy, a brutal road game against one of the top teams in the Big Ten and a solid neutral-site game against Washington, which should contend again in the Pac-12. The SEC/Big East Challenge game is more than winnable, even on the road, against rebuilding LSU. The problem for Marquette is that the Paradise Jam has a weak field with the next-best team being Virginia.

he then gives ND a 6 for playing Gonzaga, WVU a 6 for KSU and Miss St and Gtown a 6 for Memphis and Bama...he's a joke

[g0lden3agle]

not according to Katz
he then gives ND a 6 for playing Gonzaga, WVU a 6 for KSU and Miss St and Gtown a 6 for Memphis and Bama...he's a joke

Factor in where our SOS is prior to big east play any other year and it'd be even worse.  Don't need to do too too much during the pre conference play to get a strong SOS in the end, just need to do more than we had in the past couple years.

[brewcity77]

not according to Katz

he then gives ND a 6 for playing Gonzaga, WVU a 6 for KSU and Miss St and Gtown a 6 for Memphis and Bama...he's a joke

I had a chuckle when I read that. I would bet my paycheck that if we were playing #6 Duke instead of #7 Vanderbilt, we'd have an 8 or higher. It's all about name recognition. Vandy isn't as sexy as Duke, Wisconsin isn't as sexy as Michigan State, and Washington isn't as sexy as UCLA, but all of them could finish better than the aforementioned counterparts. Yet if we were playing Duke, MSU, and UCLA, we'd be given a 9 or 10.

The important difference is the bottom end. The gap between playing last year's Duke, UW, and Vandy isn't that big from playing Vandy, UW, and Washington this year, but all three are winnable. But the difference of Jacksonville, Northern Colorado, and LSU instead of Mississippi Valley State, Prairie View A&M, and South Dakota is immense.

Katz can say whatever he wants, the truth is we will likely have a much better RPI this year based on a smarter schedule.

[PGsHeroes32]

I wouldnt be calling Katz a joke, the guy thinks were are the 13th best team in the nation.

[Brewtown Andy]

I wouldnt be calling Katz a joke, the guy thinks were are the 13th best team in the nation.

I'll stop calling him a joke when he stops reporting that every BCS school in the country is about to hire Buzz.

[chapman]

At what point to we unsubscribe the forum from this joker's blog?

Yeah, really.  The riveting, insightful post couldn't even talk about our recent poll history over our Big East tenure (aside from where we finished last year), couldn't manage a quote from Buzz or a player.  Weak sauce.  I would like if we could subscribe to Anonymous Eagle and Paint Touches blogs on the forum, they would generate good discussion.

[StillAWarrior]

I'll stop calling him a joke when he stops reporting that every BCS school in the country is about to hire Buzz.

I'm sure he'll be happy to hear that you're going to stop calling him a joke now.  By my count, there were 12 BCS schools that hired new basketball coaches last year.  In how many of those cases did Katz report that Buzz was a candidate?  And I think you'd agree that he was a very serious candidate for a couple of the jobs.

[lab_warrior]

I'm sure he'll be happy to hear that you're going to stop calling him a joke now.  By my count, there were 12 BCS schools that hired new basketball coaches last year.  In how many of those cases did Katz report that Buzz was a candidate?  And I think you'd agree that he was a very serious candidate for a couple of the jobs.

Pretty sure Katz's spastic, Tourette's-like, parade of  "Buzz to _____" rumors included:

Arkansas
Texas A&M
Maryland

that is 3/12 or 25% of the 12 BCS schools.  Pretty decent percentage.

[lab_warrior]

I had a chuckle when I read that. I would bet my paycheck that if we were playing #6 Duke instead of #7 Vanderbilt, we'd have an 8 or higher. It's all about name recognition. Vandy isn't as sexy as Duke, Wisconsin isn't as sexy as Michigan State, and Washington isn't as sexy as UCLA, but all of them could finish better than the aforementioned counterparts. Yet if we were playing Duke, MSU, and UCLA, we'd be given a 9 or 10.

YES, THIS.  ABSOLUTELY.  ESPN worships at the altar of Duke/CoachK and MSU/Izzo.

[The Lens]

Enlund's MU blog went up at 2:46pm yesterday.  The Badger blog did not go up until 2:50pm yesterday.

We're WINNING!!

[Henry Sugar]

Enlund's MU blog went up at 2:46pm yesterday.  The Badger blog did not go up until 2:50pm yesterday.

We're WINNING!!

Yes, and that's because sportswriting robots can produce faster than actual journalists.

[chapman]

Yes, and that's because sportswriting robots can produce faster than actual journalists.

And eerily similar formats which will only further the robot conspiracy.  And since it would take about a minute and a half to write either of these entries (perhaps less for a robot) and they had a four minute window, UW's blog is clearly the copycat!!!

[Dr. Blackheart]

And eerily similar formats which will only further the robot conspiracy.  And since it would take about a minute and a half to write either of these entries (perhaps less for a robot) and they had a four minute window, UW's blog is clearly the copycat!!!

No, Bucky is behind because Bo's offense always has the slowest  pace in the nation. 

[StillAWarrior]

Pretty sure Katz's spastic, Tourette's-like, parade of  "Buzz to _____" rumors included:

Arkansas
Texas A&M
Maryland

that is 3/12 or 25% of the 12 BCS schools.  Pretty decent percentage.

So we can agree that your original comment that Katz is a joke because he reports that "every BCS school in the country is about to hire Buzz" was not even close to being true (although you missed Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Missouri which he was mentioned on...although I don't recall him being mentioned for Maryland).

Five minutes in Katz's blog archives (which obviously don't include his entire body of work) reveal only a few occasions where Katz even discussed Buzz in the context of other schools:

• 3/8/11 - Listing Buzz as among five coaches that he thought Texas Tech would consider
• 3/16/11 - Saying Buzz could go to Arkansas or Oklahoma if he wanted and that Buzz made the most sense for Oklahoma
• 3/28/11 - Saying that Buzz would not be going to Oklahoma or Missouri
• 5/12/11 - Saying that Buzz would listen to A&M, but that they were not going to be able to pry him away from Marquette

Maybe there's a lot out there that I didn't see/am missing, but I really don't think that Katz was running around with a "spastic, Tourette's-like, parade" of rumors that anyone was going to hire Buzz.  He did report that a hand full of schools were interested in him, but there really wasn't anything (in his blogs at least) that even remotely suggested that he was going anywhere.  As a college BB writer, it would have been inexcusable for Katz to not write about who was being considered for the top open jobs.

You're free to think Katz is a joke if you like...it makes no difference to me.  But at least base your opinion on something that bears some semblance to reality.  I think he's one of the better college BB guys out there.

[Brewtown Andy]

So we can agree that your original comment that Katz is a joke because he reports that "every BCS school in the country is about to hire Buzz" was not even close to being true (although you missed Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Missouri which he was mentioned on...although I don't recall him being mentioned for Maryland).

Ok, 3 things...

1) Lab Warrior and I are not the same person. We have different pictures next to our posts and everything.
2) I'm pretty sure I'm allowed the creative license to use a slight bit of exaggeration to make a point.
3) Why are you defending a Bucky grad so vehemently?

[StillAWarrior]

Ok, 3 things...

1) Lab Warrior and I are not the same person. We have different pictures next to our posts and everything.
2) I'm pretty sure I'm allowed the creative license to use a slight bit of exaggeration to make a point.
3) Why are you defending a Bucky grad so vehemently?

1.  You're right...my bad.
2.  It wasn't a slight exaggeration.  You were just wrong.  I can't find anything showing that Katz said that Buzz was going to any other school, much less every other BCS school.  It's OK to admit you were wrong (see No. 1, above).  Katz reported that a handful of schools were considering Buzz and that he wouldn't go to them.  Not sure why this pissed you off so much.
3.  Because I think he's one of the better college hoops writers out there and I think he gives Marquette a lot of pretty good press.  Why are you attacking him so aggressively?  Never mind, your answer is right there in your post.

[wadesworld]

Because I think he's one of the better college hoops writers out there and I think he gives Marquette a lot of pretty good press.

+1.  He is very unbiased and tells it like it is.

In my opinion, I hope analysts never stop speculating that Buzz will go somewhere else.  If we're being completely honest here, outside of the Marquette community, not many people look at Marquette as a destination job (especially now that the BE is imploding).  If there are bigger state schools with a history of success who are looking for someone to rebuild a program that is close to where Buzz grew up, I, for one, hope Buzz is discussed as a potential candidate to fill that position.  The day he is not being discussed as such, is the day that we are underachieving.  I would much rather have a successful program and worry about our coach leaving at the end of the year than have an unsuccessful program and not have to worry whether we will have the same coach the next season.  If we're not worrying our coach will leave for another job, then chances are we're hoping he's fired.  Just my opinion.