Is Marquette An NCAA Tournament Team?

[wadesworld]

They are not an NCAA tournament team this year or next year, even if Ellenson comes back

Lol.

[mug644]

Not this year.  Yes, next year.  Buzz isn't the coach, so most players will develop and show marked improvement year over year.

I suppose one could argue that Duane and JJJ are not showing the development that Coach Wojo should bring. Maybe Sandy.

It's not just about the coach.

[bilsu]

One of the reasons why I do not think this will be an NCAA tournament team next year is that I have come to realize as the Big East season goes on that we are not as athletic as I thought we were when we were playing cupcakes. Xavier and St. John's are much quicker than us and are better jumpers. I suspect tomorrow that we will see that DePaul is also more athletic than us.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

One of the reasons why I do not think this will be an NCAA tournament team next year is that I have come to realize as the Big East season goes on that we are not as athletic as I thought we were when we were playing cupcakes. Xavier and St. John's are much quicker than us and are better jumpers. I suspect tomorrow that we will see that DePaul is also more athletic than us.

Dude, youngest team in the BEast. Give them time to grow.

[ChicosBailBonds]

They are not an NCAA tournament team this year or next year, even if Ellenson comes back

This year, no.  Next year, I would wager yes.

[bilsu]

Dude, youngest team in the BEast. Give them time to grow.

I think St. John's is actually younger and much more athletic than us. St. John's will be better than us next year. We barely beat them without their shot blocker.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I think St. John's is actually younger and much more athletic than us. St. John's will be better than us next year. We barely beat them without their shot blocker.

Actually they're not. Their two graduate transfers tip the scales in their favor. We are way ahead of st. John's and will be next year. We lost to two top 5 teams. That's no reason to start predicting doom and gloom for next season

[wadesworld]

I think St. John's is actually younger and much more athletic than us. St. John's will be better than us next year. We barely beat them without their shot blocker.

Xavier needed a technical foul after a bad foul call against St. John's to win their game against St. John's.  Does that mean Xavier's not as good as St. John's?

Logic tends to go out the window around here when Marquette loses a couple in a row (even if it's to 2 top 5 teams).

[mubbnation]

Yep.  Revisit in a couple of weeks.  We'll know more.

Agreed. "Is Marquette an NCAA Tournament team?" is a question we can discuss but not yet answer with a good amount of confidence (obviously).

[Lennys Tap]

Agreed. "Is Marquette an NCAA Tournament team?" is a question we can discuss but not yet answer with a good amount of confidence (obviously).

I feel pretty confident. Right now we're the 8th best team in a 10 team conference. So, no. The discussion should be whether we can improve enough by the end of the year to become an NIT team. I hope so.

[GooooMarquette]

http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2016/01/19/2016-ncaa-tournament-bubble-watch-acc-sec-pac-12

I don't disagree with their general order...but I'd place MU closer to the GTown/Creighton group than the DePaul/St. John's group.

To the original question:  If the season ended today, we'd be out.  If we continue to do as we have done, we'd be out.  To be in, we would have to surprise more teams.  The good news is that we still have five games left vs Nova, X, Butler and Providence, so the opportunity is there.

[MU82]

Xavier needed a technical foul after a bad foul call against St. John's to win their game against St. John's.  Does that mean Xavier's not as good as St. John's?

Logic tends to go out the window around here when Marquette loses a couple in a row (even if it's to 2 top 5 teams).

Yep yep.

[MerrittsMustache]

Hate to be a downer but...No, Marquette is not a Tourney team this season. I really want them to be, but it's highly unlikely that they'll get there.

MU projects to 17-14 (pre-BET) with an RPI of around 130. Even if they're able to steal the 45/55 games against Prov and Creighton, with all other games going as projected, that gets this team to 19-12 (8-10) with an RPI of ~96. Throw in upsets of Nova and at Xavier and RPI still only projects to 71 (21-10, 10-8). Sure, it's not all about RPI and they'd have a pair of "signature wins," but would that even be enough? Not likely.

[muwarrior69]

Only if we win the BET...and then we would be one and done.

[rocky_warrior]

I feel pretty confident. Right now we're the 8th best team in a 10 team conference. So, no. The discussion should be whether we can improve enough by the end of the year to become an NIT team. I hope so.

By that logic, you're describing Butler too.

[wadesworld]

By that logic, you're describing Butler too.

Exactly.  That's what I continue to not understand.

[The Lens]

The highest profile bracket "guru" has us in his Next Four out.  Given that, I think you have to acknowledge we have a chance. 

That being said, I worry most about our Home & Home with Creighton.  The NCAA dreamers are counting on a sweep and I think that will be a tough task. 

The middle is where we need to feast and right now we're 0-2 in the Middle (@GT, SHU). 

[MerrittsMustache]

By that logic, you're describing Butler too.

Exactly.  That's what I continue to not understand.

You guys are confusing 8th best with 8th place.

How many teams in the Big East can you confidently say that MU is better than? DePaul, St. John's...maybe Creighton?

[wadesworld]

You guys are confusing 8th best with 8th place.

How many teams in the Big East can you confidently say that MU is better than? DePaul, St. John's...maybe Creighton?

How many can you confidently say that Butler is better than?  DePaul, St. John's...maybe Creighton?

[rocky_warrior]

I'm not even saying we have a good chance to be a Tourney team.  Only...

1) MU's resume is *currently* better than their conference record.
2) There's a chance, and it wouldn't surprise me much either way (make it or not)
3) It all depends if the team develops more consistency in the coming weeks.  Consistent inconsistency won't do it (but that also wouldn't surprise me)

[MerrittsMustache]

How many can you confidently say that Butler is better than?  DePaul, St. John's...maybe Creighton?

You forgot to add Marquette 

[MUfan12]

How many can you confidently say that Butler is better than?

DePaul
St. John's
Marquette
Seton Hall
Creighton

[Lennys Tap]

By that logic, you're describing Butler too.

I'm not saying we're the 8th best team because we're currently in 8th place. I'm saying that our entire season's performance says we're better than 2 teams (St Johns and DePaul) and worse than the other 7. Butler is better than us. Only team we might be on a par with (from that group of 7) is Creighton.

[brewcity77]

I always set making the tournament as my hope for our team. I hate to say it, but I just don't see it this year (and in the eternal optimist). It's not that we aren't good enough, but that this league is really good. We'd need minimum 11 league wins and our losses against Seton Hall and Georgetown will likely come back to bite us. I hope I'm wrong, but just can't see it.

[WarriorPride68]

I always set making the tournament as my hope for our team. I hate to say it, but I just don't see it this year (and in the eternal optimist). It's not that we aren't good enough, but that this league is really good. We'd need minimum 11 league wins and our losses against Seton Hall and Georgetown will likely come back to bite us. I hope I'm wrong, but just can't see it.

Not even a week ago you said this in the other Tournament thread:

We have to beat DePaul twice and St. John's. We also need to win at home, probably need to get 4 out of Xavier, Providence, Villanova, Creighton, Butler, and Georgetown. That gives us 9 wins.

That would leave us needing to get 2 wins on the road against Seton Hall, Xavier, Creighton, and Butler. And likely need to win our first at MSG to be a lock. I think that's doable