Is Marquette An NCAA Tournament Team?

[Spotcheck Billy]

I wonder if Dukescoop is so down after 3 straight losses

[Benny B]

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

[MU82]

I wonder if Dukescoop is so down after 3 straight losses

Headline in yesterday's Charlotte Observer:

Dark days for Duke: Syracuse hands Blue Devils 3rd consecutive loss

[wadesworld]

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.

If you mean 11 league wins between the regular season and the conference tournaments, we are on the same page.

[BM1090]

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.

Resume-wise, what have Georgetown and Seton Hall done to show that they're better than us? What wins do they have to prove it? Yeah, they beat us, but our best wins are probably better than theirs (until Georgetown beat Xavier) and we definitely don't have the bad losses that Georgetown does, and Seton Hall's worst loss (LBSU, RPI 129) is worse than ours (Belmont, RPI 97).

I could make a legitimate argument that our resume is better than any team outside of the 4 ranked teams in our conference. Our body of work is certainly not a definitive 8th.

[wadesworld]

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.

I don't understand how you can already conclude that Butler is better than us.  They might be.  But they are 0-2 against Providence, a team we beat on the road, and their only 2 conference wins are against St. John's and DePaul, the 2 teams you say we're better than.  Their best wins (at Cinci, vs. Purdue, vs. Tennessee, vs. Temple) are no better than our best wins (at Providence, ASU neutral court, LSU neutral court, at Wisconsin).  Nothing that has happened so far this season says they are any better than we are, and they are 2-4 (beat St. John's and IUPUI, lost twice to Providence and once to Xavier and Nova) against mutual opponents while we are 3-2 (beat IUPUI, St. John's, Providence, lost to Nova and Xavier).

[wadesworld]

Resume-wise, what have Georgetown and Seton Hall done to show that they're better than us? What wins do they have to prove it? Yeah, they beat us, but our best wins are probably better than theirs (until Georgetown beat Xavier) and we definitely don't have the bad losses that Georgetown does, and Seton Hall's worst loss (LBSU, RPI 129) is worse than ours (Belmont, RPI 97).

I could make a legitimate argument that our resume is better than any team outside of the 4 ranked teams in our conference. Our body of work is certainly not a definitive 8th.

Until we get a rematch with those 2, they can only be considered better than us.

[MU82]

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.

The only fact that really matters proves we're better than Providence, right?

[RushmoreAcademy]

or if all else fails win the BET!

I like having a Plan B.

[MerrittsMustache]

The only fact that really matters proves we're better than Providence, right?

Doesn't that "fact" also prove that Wisconsin is better than Michigan State? And that OK State is better than Kansas? And that Va Tech is better than Virginia?

[MU82]

Doesn't that "fact" also prove that Wisconsin is better than Michigan State? And that OK State is better than Kansas? And that Va Tech is better than Virginia?

I was just being hilarious.

In the words of the immortal Sgt. Hulka: Lighten up, Francis!

[MerrittsMustache]

I was just being hilarious.

In the words of the immortal Sgt. Hulka: Lighten up, Francis!

Don't get mad at me because your joke didn't land 

[BM1090]

Until we get a rematch with those 2, they can only be considered better than us.

He said "entire season's performance", which I took to mean as body of work. Their bodies of work are no better than ours at this point.

By that logic, we're better than Providence.

[wadesworld]

He said "entire season's performance", which I took to mean as body of work. Their bodies of work are no better than ours at this point.

Their 5-2 and 4-2 conference records are significantly better than our 2-4 conference record, to go with their head to head wins over us.  If the committee were looking at these 3 teams' resumes today, Seton Hall and Georgetown would at least be considered, while Marquette would not.

[brewcity77]

If you mean 11 league wins between the regular season and the conference tournaments, we are on the same page.

11 combined gets us on the bubble. 12 gets us in. 10 or less and we need to 4 at MSG.

[BM1090]

Their 5-2 and 4-2 conference records are significantly better than our 2-4 conference record, to go with their head to head wins over us.  If the committee were looking at these 3 teams' resumes today, Seton Hall and Georgetown would at least be considered, while Marquette would not.

Bracket Matrix disagrees with you. Compilation of brackets has Seton Hall ahead of us, but Marquette is listed as 12th out and Georgetown isn't even listed.

Georgetown lost to Radford, Asheville and Monmouth.....we have zero bad losses. Georgetown has 3 top 100 wins (Xavier, Wisconsin, Syracuse). We have four top 100 wins. More good wins, less bad losses. The only thing we have going against us right now is that we played so many 280+ RPI teams in non conference. Our good wins/bad losses are better than almost every other bubble team.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

11 combined gets us on the bubble. 12 gets us in. 10 or less and we need to 4 at MSG.

Meh. 

11-7 with a loss in the BET opener and MU is still safely in. 

10-8 with a win in the BET and MU is closer to the bubble, but I bet they still are safe from the play-in games. 

Now, getting to 11 wins is alot easier said than done. But if they do, they'll be fine.

That said, our non-con scheduling has done us absolutely no favors.  10-8 or even 9-9 probably would have been enough if we didn't have 5 games against the 300+ RPI teams. But that's been discussed ad nauseam and is what it is now.

[brewcity77]

Until we get a rematch with those 2, they can only be considered better than us.

Yeah, but a resume takes into account your season, not just one game as a snapshot. By that logic, we could run the table to the national title and Belmont would be better than us because they didn't get a rematch.

[MU82]

Don't get mad at me because your joke didn't land 

I'm not mad at all. Just saying, "You better hit those bunks my little babies, or Sergeant Hulka with the big toe is gonna see how far he can stick it up your ass."

[wadesworld]

Yeah, but a resume takes into account your season, not just one game as a snapshot. By that logic, we could run the table to the national title and Belmont would be better than us because they didn't get a rematch.

The difference here is that Belmont doesn't play in our conference and isn't 1.5 and 2.5 full games up on us in the standings.  So no, by that logic that's not how it would go.

[brewcity77]

Meh. 

11-7 with a loss in the BET opener and MU is still safely in. 

10-8 with a win in the BET and MU is closer to the bubble, but I bet they still are safe from the play-in games. 

That's your opinion, with no rationalization. Maybe you're right, but I've repeatedly shown the numbers as to why I think 22 total wins puts us on the bubble and 23 is needed to be a lock.

11-7 in league and first round BET loss means a sub-60 RPI, which more often than not means missing the tournament. That's bubble territory, at best.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Bracket Matrix

We are in 3 brackets out of 53

http://www.bracketmatrix.com/

[Lennys Tap]

Bracket Matrix

We are in 3 brackets out of 53

http://www.bracketmatrix.com/

How many is DePaul in?

[muhoops1]

Losing at home to DePaul...that's a resounding No

[Shark]

This team kinda sucks guys. I've been staying positive all year but this one might be it for me. There was 0 contact on that and one but it shouldn't have come to it.