Is Marquette vs. University of Wisconsin-Madison a big game?

[MU Avenue]

It is not a big game. It is a HUGE game.

It is ridiculous that some dismiss this game as just another day on the basketball court.

Marquette vs. University of Wisconsin-Madison is a huge game that points to a terrific rivalry.

How on Earth could anyone with a basketball brain view this as anything but one of the best games of each season?

MU plays many other games every season that are hugely important, but few victories feel much better than when the Marquette Golden Eagles beat the University of Wisconsin-Madison Badgers.

[muhoosier260]

I agree, huge game. Both are very relevant teams, consistently top 25, making the tournament, etc. Outside WI though, its not a huge game. Doesn't change my enthusiasm tho! Fire up!

[MU Avenue]

I agree, huge game. Both are very relevant teams, consistently top 25, making the tournament, etc. Outside WI though, its not a huge game. Doesn't change my enthusiasm tho! Fire up!

I do not agree, muhoosier260, that Marquette vs. University of Wisconsin-Madison is only considered a big game within Wisconsin.

I have talked basketball this week with folks in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Arizona and Washington state. They all knew of this game's imminence and had opinions on the likely outcome.

A game need not be Ohio State-Michigan in football or North Carolina-Duke in basketball for smart, informed fans to understand its significance.

In my case, a woman in Arizona, whose only connection to Marquette is that she knows I went there, said she had just read something in The Arizona Republic about the game.

We all need to proclaim our Marquette connection and our Marquette pride much more loudly.

[tower912]

It is a big game.   They are our biggest OOC rival.   It is not a huge game and it is not our super bowl.   

[brewcity77]

Absolutely a big game. From the obvious perspective, it's a game against a perennial top-25 non-con opponent. It's a resume-builder. This is another one of those games that can move you up a seed-line on Selection Sunday.

For those of us in Wisconsin, it's immense. I would say outside of the NCAA and Big East tournament, there are three dates I tend to circle on the calendar. Wisconsin, Louisville, and Notre Dame. Those are the three you always want. And while the UL games are generally more exciting, the UW games are the ones I hear the most about if we lose.

[JimmyB!]

It's a huge game for people in Wisconsin and fans of each program.

People outside of Wisconsin really don't give a crap. Do you get all pumped up when Kansas plays Missouri? Or when Cinci plays Xavier? It's the same thing.

[MUCam]

Dick Vitale had stated a few years back that MU-Wisconsin was one of the top five biggest rivalry games in college basketball.*

Ergo, it must not be all that big since everything that man spews is false.



*NOTE: With the game being televised on the Big 10 network this year, I would wager that Dick Vitale, if asked, would claim not to even know that MU and Wisconsin are playing this year.

[MU_LOL]

Absolutely a big game. From the obvious perspective, it's a game against a perennial top-25 non-con opponent. It's a resume-builder. This is another one of those games that can move you up a seed-line on Selection Sunday.

I would hope that we'd jump up a few spots if we win, too, especially after seeing how good Wisconsin was Wednesday night

[Buzz Williams' Spillproof Chiclets Cup]

The other day, I was trying to think of big interconference, intrastate rivalries bigger than MU-UW. There are some, but there's not a big pool to pick from.

Florida-Florida State
Georgia-Georgia Tech
Kenucky-Louisville
Clemson-South Carolina
Xavier-Cincinnati


Tennessee-Memphis?

Only other examples I could think of barely qualified, like the Big 5 in Philly (where 3 of the teams are A-10 teams anyway), and the Beanpot Cup in hockey in Boston (BC, BU, Harvard, Northeastern).

[CTWarrior]

That shows you how small the pool of such games are.

The only one of the games on your list that is a no-brainer bigger game the MU-UW is Louisville-Kentucky.

We are in the discussion compared to all of the other games.

Does Notre Dame play Indiana every year?  That should be a huge rivalry game, too.

[Goose]

It is a big game overall and a huge game for MU. MU getting the W puts us in the top 10.

[MU82]

Big game. I really want an MU win. But here in N.C., where I live, it is not even a blip on the radar. And you'd think if it were big enough nationally, it would be airing on one of the dozen ESPNs.

We don't get the Big Ten Network on our cable system, so I'll be joining some fellow Marquetters at a drinking establishment to cheer the lads on.

Go MU!

[GGGG]

I think it is bigger for us than it is for most UW fans.  They are hardly even talking about the game on their scout board.

[MerrittsMustache]

It's a big game for fan bragging rights, but it's not even the biggest college game on Saturday for most sports fans in the state.

It's a big game for both teams in terms of quality wins come Tourney time, but in the bigger scheme, it's much less significant than basically all of MU's conference games.

[MerrittsMustache]

The other day, I was trying to think of big interconference, intrastate rivalries bigger than MU-UW. There are some, but there's not a big pool to pick from.

Florida-Florida State
Georgia-Georgia Tech
Kenucky-Louisville
Clemson-South Carolina
Xavier-Cincinnati


Tennessee-Memphis?

Only other examples I could think of barely qualified, like the Big 5 in Philly (where 3 of the teams are A-10 teams anyway), and the Beanpot Cup in hockey in Boston (BC, BU, Harvard, Northeastern).

It's obviously not intrastate, but Indiana-Kentucky is a bigger non-conf game nationally than MU-UW.

[VegasWarrior77]

UNLV vs. UNR is the game here in Nevada - but this is not a heavily populated state.

[Litehouse]

I think it is bigger for us than it is for most UW fans.  They are hardly even talking about the game on their scout board.

Of course it is bigger for us.  Basketball is bigger for us.  We simply care more about basketball than they do, and I have no problem admitting that.  Outside of a few die-hards, they don't care about basketball until after Jan. 1st.

[LAMUfan]

ucla vs usc are big, but traditionally they are not good at the same sport... except water polo 

[Abode4life]

I think it is bigger for us than it is for most UW fans.  They are hardly even talking about the game on their scout board.

Even if its not on their scout boards, i know a ton of people who went to Wisconsin and are talking non-stop about it since tuesday.  

I think this is a big game for the program because UW has been very good team the past few years, however i wouldn't consider it a huge game for the program because we play them every year and because we face so many other great teams during conference play.  

For me personally it is huge, only because I know so many UW fans, and I do not want to hear them talk trash for another year.  

[VanderBabyBlue]

The lack of attention this year (despite both teams being good) is obviously UW football.  This is Wisconsin, football rules all. 

A game to play in the "Granddaddy of Them All" obviously trumps an early season OOC game, as it should.

[brewcity77]

Big game. I really want an MU win. But here in N.C., where I live, it is not even a blip on the radar. And you'd think if it were big enough nationally, it would be airing on one of the dozen ESPNs.

We don't get the Big Ten Network on our cable system, so I'll be joining some fellow Marquetters at a drinking establishment to cheer the lads on.

Go MU!

This really seems to be a scheduling quirk. Usually, this game is the second week of December. Because it's the first Satuday, it's competing with all the college football championship games and season finales, which will get more coverage from the 4-letter network. I'm a little surprised it didn't end up on a true national telecast, but I think the Big 10 saw it as a flagship game for the network as a basketball broadcast.

[muhoosier260]

It's a big game for fan bragging rights, but it's not even the biggest college game on Saturday for most sports fans in the state.

It's a big game for both teams in terms of quality wins come Tourney time, but in the bigger scheme, it's much less significant than basically all of MU's conference games.

after hearing everyone's $.02, I think this is the best way of putting it

[Hards Alumni]

The lack of attention this year (despite both teams being good) is obviously UW football.  This is Wisconsin, football rules all. 

A game to play in the "Granddaddy of Them All" obviously trumps an early season OOC game, as it should.

You mean the Rose Bowl?

Who cares!

[Buzz Williams' Spillproof Chiclets Cup]

That shows you how small the pool of such games are.

The only one of the games on your list that is a no-brainer bigger game the MU-UW is Louisville-Kentucky.

We are in the discussion compared to all of the other games.

Does Notre Dame play Indiana every year?  That should be a huge rivalry game, too.

One of my Domer friends says the reason ND and Indiana don't play each other every year is because "Considering our season ticket base is largely locals who didn't go to ND outside of the students, if Indiana came to play at the Joyce Center, the whole place would be red and it would be a home game for Indiana."

[chapman]

A game to play in the "Granddaddy of Them All" obviously trumps an early season OOC game, as it should.

You would think...but then again, one of them still has fairly pricey tickets and the other has the B1G paying people to sit in a seat so they look better on TV.