[Cracked Sidewalks] Marquette at North Carolina

[Uncle Rico]

You did:

That was a general statement, not a prediction.  I could have said 13-12.  Should have been clearer.  My fault. 

[CountryRoads]

Very cool development. I'm surprised UNC would risk a Q3 loss though. If it's on a neutral floor, we would have a better chance of being Q2. Should play the game at Duke if possible. (From UNC perspective...obviously better for MU if it's a road game)

[Babybluejeans]

Total hypothetical because we all know it won't happen. But as a thought experiment: what would happen if MU won out the regular season? Would they be able to squeeze their way into the NCAAs with an at-large (say, by making the BE finals)?

[PGsHeroes32]

We winning out

[MuggsyB]

Total hypothetical because we all know it won't happen. But as a thought experiment: what would happen if MU won out the regular season? Would they be able to squeeze their way into the NCAAs with an at-large (say, by making the BE finals)?

Probably....if we picked up a win vs Creighton or Nova in the BET.  Chances are less than 1% but ya never know.

[PGsHeroes32]

Probably....if we picked up a win vs Creighton or Nova in the BET.  Chances are less than 1% but ya never know.

Even crazier hypothetical(it aint happening but lets just imagine for the hell of it.)

MU beats UNC, UConn and Depaul.

Does the BE scramble and try and get our GTown game back(say march 4th...both teams finish the year playing the 2nd and 6th).

Snagging the gtown win and then X. Ends up putting us at 15-12(10-10). Entering a way different convo.

[We R Final Four]

An enemy of Badger fans is a friend of mine

Agreed!

[MuggsyB]

Even crazier hypothetical(it aint happening but lets just imagine for the hell of it.)

MU beats UNC, UConn and Depaul.

Does the BE scramble and try and get our GTown game back(say march 4th...both teams finish the year playing the 2nd and 6th).

Snagging the gtown win and then X. Ends up putting us at 15-12(10-10). Entering a way different convo.

I wouldn't know but I can't imagine a Gtown win putting us over the hump.  It's always about who you beat and how bad are your losses. So imo not only do we need to come close to winning out but also need additional quad 1 wins.  There is no evidence we can beat Nova so I hope we get Creighton in the BET.

[4everwarriors]

Best shot iz if 100 teems inn front of us all tested positive 'round tourney tyme, hey?

[MuggsyB]

Best shot iz if 100 teems inn front of us all tested positive 'round tourney tyme, hey?

I hadn't thought about this angle;

We win the BET because of C-19 issues for the other teams???? 

[MarquetteMike1977]

Was hoping for Georgetown or a lesser opponent buy game but believe an MU NC game would be better than no game given our current position.

[MarquetteMike1977]

Best shot iz if 100 teems inn front of us all tested positive 'round tourney tyme, hey?

Lol a friend texted me something similar to this a couple days ago and also in relation to the Big East Tournament too. Whatever it takes haha.

[Billy Hoyle]

I hadn't thought about this angle;

We win the BET because of C-19 issues for the other teams????

Conferences are being given the choice of who gets their automatic bid. Nova and Creighton sit out the BET (and UConn if they're a lock) knowing they're in and MU makes a run? It's possible...

[GoldenWarrior11]

Still not confirmed? 

[CountryRoads]

Conferences are being given the choice of who gets their automatic bid. Nova and Creighton sit out the BET (and UConn if they're a lock) knowing they're in and MU makes a run? It's possible...

When talk of that started, the NCAA came right out and said they wouldn't allow that.

[wadesworld]

Marquette is neither winning out (and weren't without the UNC game either) or winning the BET.  There've done nothing to suggest they can win 3 straight games this season.

So this game is great because it's not going to change the outcome of our season, but we still get to watch Marquette play a blue blood program in their building.  Even with both programs being worse than they should be at the moment, that's still very fun.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Only thing that matters is the next game right?

[Dish]

I remember Julius Peppers had a great game against MU the last time MU went to the Dean Dome (13 & 9).

[Silent Verbal]

I remember Julius Peppers had a great game against MU the last time MU went to the Dean Dome (13 & 9).

What was the story with that game?  Was it some sort of CUSA/ACC Challenge?  Remember thinking it was kind of BS that MU just went down there and didn't get a home and home, and of course lost.  Typical Crean move.

[Johnny B]

will we wear the 77 throwbacks?

[MUfan12]

What was the story with that game?  Was it some sort of CUSA/ACC Challenge?  Remember thinking it was kind of BS that MU just went down there and didn't get a home and home, and of course lost.  Typical Crean move.

National TV game on ABC, which was a big deal for MU at that point. Didn't get many of those.

[brewcity77]

FWIW, this has now been confirmed by the UNC Basketball Twitter account and by Ben Steele from JSOnline.

[brewcity77]

Total hypothetical because we all know it won't happen. But as a thought experiment: what would happen if MU won out the regular season? Would they be able to squeeze their way into the NCAAs with an at-large (say, by making the BE finals)?

If we go with that hypothetical, I think so. Their resume would look something like this:

17-13 (9-10)
NET: 60
kenpom: 45
SOR: 20
Q1: 7-7
Q2: 2-5
Q3: 5-0
Q4: 3-1

If we go by probabilities, here are the resumes that my current Last Four In would have:

Colorado State

16-5 (13-3)
NET: 46
kenpom: 67
SOR: 50
Q1: 2-4
Q2: 1-1
Q3: 4-0
Q4: 9-0

UConn

13-9 (9-8)
NET: 52
kenpom: 36
SOR: 46
Q1: 3-4
Q2: 2-5
Q3: 5-0
Q4: 3-0

St Bonaventure

13-4 (11-4)
NET: 44
kenpom: 50
SOR: 47
Q1: 1-3
Q2: 4-1
Q3: 4-0
Q4: 4-0

Indiana

14-14 (8-11)
NET: 42
kenpom: 31
SOR: 39
Q1: 3-12
Q2: 7-0
Q3: 2-2
Q4: 2-0

This makes a lot of assumptions, but pretty straight forward ones. First, for Marquette, winning out, then beating Georgetown, Creighton, and UConn before losing to Villanova. For UConn, we assume results per kenpom but include losses to Marquette (obviously). For the other three, we go with the kenpom results and the most likely conference tournament results based on current league standings.

Marquette's metric numbers would be about average, but Strength of Record would skyrocket (based that on Torvik projection) with that winning streak. The Q1 wins are more than double any of the other teams on the bubble and are why I've highlighted in the past the value of our Wisconsin and Creighton wins. The DePaul loss hurts, but not so much that it isn't offset by the high-end wins.

I expect this is all rhetorical and it's more likely we don't win another game than we win the next 7 straight, but if we did manage to get that far, we will at least be in the mix with anyone else who would be on the bubble. I could include more resumes, but this is enough of a broad stroke to show what kind of high and mid majors are in that area right now and how we'd stack up if Wojo's team went nuclear.

[Dish]

I think it's awesome this game is happening. I love whenever MU plays power conference teams that they rarely play, especially blue bloods.

[Big Papi]

NC is not that good this year.  What is there best win?  Syracuse?  This is the perfect game to schedule.  A marquee name that is an average team.  A win would build a lot of confidence and solidify Wojo being back next year.