Bobby Knight just said he thought Marquette was one of best 5 teams in country

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

I also believe people like Knight, Anthony and maybe Bilas watch so many damn basketball games that they're throwing us out there because we're absolutely one of the five most enjoyable teams to watch. You can only watch so many Michigan State games...and I like the Spartans.

With that said (and I don't care a lick about our "seed") I could definitely see us in New Orleans if if a bracket falls our way. I felt last year that Xavier (the higher seed) got matched with us as an 11 seed and we were just a brutal match-up for them.

My biggest fear is running into some undersized mid-major that gets red hot from three.

[tower912]

This is the truth. From a purely "talent" standpoint, the top teams (UK, UNC, OSU) are head and shoulders above us and we're close to even with the 10-40 group. But we're unselfish, play to our strengths and outwork teams to compensate for our weaknesses. A coach like Knight or a cerebral former point guard like Anthony are drawn to that sort of team.

Sad to say, from a HEIGHT standpoint, the top teams are head and shoulders above us.    But MU sure is fun to watch. 

[muwarrior69]

Don't want to play Michigan State or U Washington. I'm sure Kentucky does not want to play us.

[Dawson Rental]

Don't want to play Michigan State or U Washington. I'm sure Kentucky does not want to play us.

I'd get all queezy, if we were looking at Vandy too.

[AZWarrior]

I like Bobby Knight much better as an announcer than I did as a coach.

"What's 12 inches long and hangs in front of an a##hole?

Bobby Knight's tie."

This used to be one of my favorite jokes.  Fortunately, its versatile. 

[MUMac]

"What's 12 inches long and hangs in front of an a##hole?

Bobby Knight's tie."

This used to be one of my favorite jokes.  Fortunately, its versatile. 

Doesn't work for Crean.   

[Benny B]

I think if we had to play Vandy or Syracuse today, those games would definitely yield a much different outcome.  Both games were played in the midst of a major line-up change for MU, and today's team is quite simply a different team than it was two months ago.  I'm not saying MU wins both games or even one of them, but they both may at least go down to the wire.  Heck, play the ND game on a neutral court, and I think that game's outcome changes dramatically.

Frankly, after watching how well they dominated a much bigger UConn team on Saturday, I firmly believe MU can beat anyone in the country.  I'm sure Buzz has them believing the same thing, and that's why nobody will want to see MU anywhere near their region on SS.  The question is, can they do it six times in a row.

If I'm MU, there's one type of player that concerns me -- an experienced, true 5 who doesn't foul, can handle the ball, and is as complete on offense as he is on defense.  Off hand, I can only think of one player in the country (of the likely 1-4 seeds) who fits that bill: John Henson.  Anthony Davis would be there next year (if he's not in the NBA).  Mason Plumlee, and a healthy Festus Ezeli might be a close 2nd-3rd this year.  Fab Melo is not quite there, IMO, but he is the best of the next.

Teams with dominating power forwards like KU, MSU & WVU do not scare me.  Teams that live by the three (ND) often die by the three come tournament time, and they don't exactly pose an insurmountable threat even if they do happen to be on their game.  Top-notch defensive teams (UW) don't bother me at all.  These are all teams for which MU has an answer... it all comes down to execution.  However, that elite 5 in the paint is always going to give MU problems regardless of who does and doesn't execute.  That being said, UK, Duke and NC would be very difficult match-ups if Gardner doesn't come back at close to 100%, but in a hypothetical round robin including MU... MU is going to win at least one of those games.

Granted, it's very difficult to win six late-March games in a row without a dominating presence in the paint, but that doesn't mean you can't rattle off a few upsets here and there.  In theory, a 3-seed only needs to pull off (at most) four upsets to win the enchilada.  And even then, there's two, maybe three teams that are as close to a guaranteed loss as the 3-14 game is a guaranteed win.  For every other match-up in between, it's anybody's game... that's the beauty of tournament time.

[MuMark]

I'll be very impressed if we beat Cincy this week....since we don't play them again until the 29th.......

[wojosdojo]

My biggest fear is running into some undersized mid-major absolutley any team that gets red hot from three, since it seems to happen to often.

[Classof83]

Does anyone else recall the game MU and IU played in March, 1985 in the NIT? Marquette lost in double overtime! Marquette played the last 30 seconds with only four players on the floor, all the others having fouled out. When has anyone seen that in a Division I game? ALL the calls went in favor for Knight with no Indiana player fouling out. Knight later said: ``I think that out of the five best officiated games we`ve had this season, three of them have come in the NIT.`` At one point during the first overtime, Knight was so elated with a call that he patted an official on the back. When asked about the 36 personal fouls called against Marquette to 21 on Indiana, coach Rick Majerus said: ``I don`t officiate the games, I coach the games.``

[cj111]

I drove down with some friends to Bloomington for that.  Ran into Majerus at a gas station on the way back, which was very odd.  But he saw our MU gear and was really nice.

[LloydMooresLegs]

Does anyone else recall the game MU and IU played in March, 1985 in the NIT? Marquette lost in double overtime! Marquette played the last 30 seconds with only four players on the floor, all the others having fouled out. When has anyone seen that in a Division I game? ALL the calls went in favor for Knight with no Indiana player fouling out. Knight later said: ``I think that out of the five best officiated games we`ve had this season, three of them have come in the NIT.`` At one point during the first overtime, Knight was so elated with a call that he patted an official on the back. When asked about the 36 personal fouls called against Marquette to 21 on Indiana, coach Rick Majerus said: ``I don`t officiate the games, I coach the games.``

Hadn't thought about that in forever- thanks for bringing back the memory - even if it hurts a bit. 

[tower912]

Don't forget, one of the 4 was the immortal Willie Hines.   All 5'8 of him.    The amazing thing was that despite the foul disparity, MU still took them to overtime at Assembly Hall.   I view this as #2 on the list of games that if MU had won, would have changed the arc of the program.   #1 was the UNC game in 86. 

[bilsu]

Does anyone else recall the game MU and IU played in March, 1985 in the NIT? Marquette lost in double overtime! Marquette played the last 30 seconds with only four players on the floor, all the others having fouled out. When has anyone seen that in a Division I game? ALL the calls went in favor for Knight with no Indiana player fouling out. Knight later said: ``I think that out of the five best officiated games we`ve had this season, three of them have come in the NIT.`` At one point during the first overtime, Knight was so elated with a call that he patted an official on the back. When asked about the 36 personal fouls called against Marquette to 21 on Indiana, coach Rick Majerus said: ``I don`t officiate the games, I coach the games.``

I was at that game and had to drive home that night to Mequon. Going two overtimes and losing just made the drive that much harder.

[LloydMooresLegs]

Sheesh, Tower -  between you and Class of '83, your killing me.  That was the "Joe Wolf gets to play a game in his home state consolation game."  Wasn't it Hale who torched us at the end.  As I recall it, we were up around 8 or 10 with a couple of minutes to go...throw in any of the 6 ND losses, and this and the IU double OT are probably the worst of my 4 years. 

[Coach Norman Dale]

Does anyone else recall the game MU and IU played in March, 1985 in the NIT? Marquette lost in double overtime! ...

I was also at this game and the thing that I recall most vividly was how Majerus was wearing a light blue shirt at the start of the game, but by the end it was nearly entirely royal blue because of the sweat.  He worked just as hard on that sideline as any of the players did on the court.

[4everwarriors]

Rick always got very red in the face. Looked like he could pop a gasket at any moment.