The Athletic Early Big East Rankings

[bilsu]

He was in the top-20 of every edition of the AP Poll released this past season, in the top-15 all but the first two polls, and in the top-10 eight times. Then he won the Big 12 Tournament. And he's had a top-40 adjusted defensive efficiency each of the past 10 years despite changing programs, personnel, and defensive systems. He's been to 8 of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have to prove anything to you.

He has to prove to me that he can win NCAA tournament games at MU. The last coach could not do that.

[GB Warrior]

Buckle up kids, preseason rankings are going to have a lot of this. And our team's experience levels probably support it.

I expect to see this team playing hard throughout and playing its best ball at year-end. Both are improvements over last year, but I wouldn't suggest a high ceiling.

[Herman Cain]

I keep looking at the Big East Standings to the left on this page, and outside of Nova and U-Conn I don't see much. MU has as good a chance as any other school for that #3 slot this year. Every one has had departures in that group, and MU has done as good a job as any in filling those departures with quality players. That said, just as in every year, each game will be a dog fight and possession by possession battle. That is what makes this conference so interesting and fun to watch.

[Shooter McGavin]

I keep looking at the Big East Standings to the left on this page, and outside of Nova and U-Conn I don't see much. MU has as good a chance as any other school for that #3 slot this year. Every one has had departures in that group, and MU has done as good a job as any in filling those departures with quality players. That said, just as in every year, each game will be a dog fight and possession by possession battle. That is what makes this conference so interesting and fun to watch.

Can't say I disagree much with your opinion.  Maybe Xavier?  4-11 is a crap shoot.

[MarquetteMike1977]

https://archive.ph/pOjXk

1. Nova
2. UConn
3. X
4. GTown
5. Butler
6. Creighton
7. Johnnies
8. Providence
9. The Gold
10. Seton Hall
11. DePaw

New Big East helped Villanova and hurt Marquette. Having Butler's Barry Collier on the NCAA Board with no term limits hurts Marquette. Having Markus on the NCAA Board helped Marquette. Playing well is very very important but unfortunately there are other things. Fortunately Shaka was good at developing bigs at Texas and hope Dawson comes back and Darryl  transfers and Marquette moves up and the Athletic is wrong.

[The Lens]

Well, they gave enough of a crap to give huge money to steal the best coach available from an in-state, conference rival.

Quite possibly, Texas fans by-and-large don't give a crap about basketball. But somebody at Texas does, or they would have promoted an assistant and given him $300K.

There's a difference between cutting that big check and having an org that 365 days a year is dedicated to making that program the best it can be.  It's almost like the Washington Football Team winning the off season spending each year, only to finish 6-10. 

I truly believe Shaka is going to realize organizational support and commitment like he's never seen before.  He's the #1 priority.

[The Sultan]

New Big East helped Villanova and hurt Marquette. Having Butler's Barry Collier on the NCAA Board with no term limits hurts Marquette. Having Markus on the NCAA Board helped Marquette. Playing well is very very important but unfortunately there are other things. Fortunately Shaka was good at developing bigs at Texas and hope Dawson comes back and Darryl  transfers and Marquette moves up and the Athletic is wrong.

Your theory that the BE has hurt Marquette continues to make no sense.

[cheebs09]

How did Barry Collier negatively impact MU? MU's biggest issue has been being mediocre the last 8 years.

[Scoop Snoop]

New Big East helped Villanova and hurt Marquette. Having Butler's Barry Collier on the NCAA Board with no term limits hurts Marquette. Having Markus on the NCAA Board helped Marquette. Playing well is very very important but unfortunately there are other things. Fortunately Shaka was good at developing bigs at Texas and hope Dawson comes back and Darryl  transfers and Marquette moves up and the Athletic is wrong.

Care to explain what the other things are? If there were BE related issues (although I do not think that there were), we have had plenty of time to adjust to conference opponents and their strengths, etc. 

[NCMUFan]

My hopes for MU this season is that they are competitive for 40 minutes.
Nothing more discouraging than to have the game over by halftime and knowing the final 20 minutes are just garbage time.

[Warrior Code]

My hopes for MU this season is that they are competitive for 40 minutes.
Nothing more discouraging than to have the game over by halftime and knowing the final 20 minutes are just garbage time.

Or getting up by a dozen and still feeling like it's all about to come apart at the seams.

[NCMUFan]

Or getting up by a dozen and still feeling like it's all about to come apart at the seams.

At least being up a dozen made it interesting.
Sometimes it ended in near coronaries but at least it wasn't a total yawn.

[Shooter McGavin]

Your theory that the BE has hurt Marquette continues to make no sense.

Agreed.   Going from Buzz to Wojo hurt MU.  If Buzz left simply because of the new Big East there may be some truth to the theory but based on all reports that was more of a smoke screen for why he left or got pushed out.

Time to climb the Big East ladder again with some hard nose defensive teams and leave the last decade behind.

[GoldenWarrior11]

The configuration of the present Big East had every possible built-in advantage established for Marquette to be a regular competitor for conference championships.  It had the head coach (Buzz), it had an AD leading separation discussions (Larry Williams), it had a President involved in separation discussions (Pilarz) and it was coming off a stretch of sustained success (Sweet 16s and Elite 8s).

The unfortunate reality that Marquette is at the bottom of the conference and has contributed zero value of postseason success rests solely on the shoulders of Marquette because of bad hires, plain and simple.

[The Sultan]

The configuration of the present Big East had every possible built-in advantage established for Marquette to be a regular competitor for conference championships.  It had the head coach (Buzz), it had an AD leading separation discussions (Larry Williams), it had a President involved in separation discussions (Pilarz) and it was coming off a stretch of sustained success (Sweet 16s and Elite 8s).

The unfortunate reality that Marquette is at the bottom of the conference and has contributed zero value of postseason success rests solely on the shoulders of Marquette because of bad hires, plain and simple.

Marquette's at the bottom of the conference?

[NCMUFan]

The configuration of the present Big East had every possible built-in advantage established for Marquette to be a regular competitor for conference championships.  It had the head coach (Buzz), it had an AD leading separation discussions (Larry Williams), it had a President involved in separation discussions (Pilarz) and it was coming off a stretch of sustained success (Sweet 16s and Elite 8s).

The unfortunate reality that Marquette is at the bottom of the conference and has contributed zero value of postseason success rests solely on the shoulders of Marquette because of bad hires, plain and simple.

This is very interesting.
Losing the Hausers IMHO sealed Wojos fate at MU.  He never could recover in the time period he needed.
If Shaka had Howard and the Hausers, would he have let Howard go off with the 30+, 40+, 50+ games to pull out the wins?
Would the Hausers have been satisfied playing under Shaka and Howard?

[MU82]

There's a difference between cutting that big check and having an org that 365 days a year is dedicated to making that program the best it can be.  It's almost like the Washington Football Team winning the off season spending each year, only to finish 6-10. 

I truly believe Shaka is going to realize organizational support and commitment like he's never seen before.  He's the #1 priority.

I understand what you're saying about Shaka getting total support at Marquette, and I'm glad about it. But I still don't know why a university that "doesn't give a crap" about basketball would hire the best coach available.

[The Lens]

I understand what you're saying about Shaka getting total support at Marquette, and I'm glad about it. But I still don't know why a university that "doesn't give a crap" about basketball would hire the best coach available.

They care on occasion.  They do the surface level things but God in the details.   

[brewcity77]

I understand what you're saying about Shaka getting total support at Marquette, and I'm glad about it. But I still don't know why a university that "doesn't give a crap" about basketball would hire the best coach available.

While I don't disagree, they did the same in 2015. Shaka was the hottest name in coaching. Whatever the reason that didn't work, hiring a massive basketball name and having it go sideways wouldn't be new for them.

[Herman Cain]

While I don't disagree, they did the same in 2015. Shaka was the hottest name in coaching. Whatever the reason that didn't work, hiring a massive basketball name and having it go sideways wouldn't be new for them.

I think Texas didn't value the job that Rick Barnes did building their program . Their alumni have unrealistic expectations and I don't know if Chris Beard can materially elevate the program from where it is at.

[MU82]

I think Texas didn't value the job that Rick Barnes did building their program . Their alumni have unrealistic expectations and I don't know if Chris Beard can materially elevate the program from where it is at.

Agree about Barnes.

Disagree about Beard. Texas will be a force to be reckoned with.

[Warrior Code]

At least being up a dozen made it interesting.
Sometimes it ended in near coronaries but at least it wasn't a total yawn.

I theory, yes, but I don't think I actually agree with that. Admittedly, I haven't been able to watch as many games as I normally would have, but I really haven't enjoyed many games the past couple years - win or lose. The losses always felt inevitable and the wins often felt like we were desperately trying to give the game away but merely ran out of time. Very unsatisfying either way.

Here's hoping for a different experience in the coming years.

[willie warrior]

This is very interesting.
Losing the Hausers IMHO sealed Wojos fate at MU.  He never could recover in the time period he needed.
If Shaka had Howard and the Hausers, would he have let Howard go off with the 30+, 40+, 50+ games to pull out the wins?
Would the Hausers have been satisfied playing under Shaka and Howard?

Absolutey. The major f%#k up by Wojo was Hausergate, which broke the camels back

[NCMUFan]

I theory, yes, but I don't think I actually agree with that. Admittedly, I haven't been able to watch as many games as I normally would have, but I really haven't enjoyed many games the past couple years - win or lose. The losses always felt inevitable and the wins often felt like we were desperately trying to give the game away but merely ran out of time. Very unsatisfying either way.

Here's hoping for a different experience in the coming years.

It was tough to watch the team last season.  I guess that what makes us true blue fans.  Just disjointed.  They did the best they could.  COVID certainly made things weird.  But can't use that as an excuse as every team had to play under the same conditions.

[MarquetteMike1977]

Old Big East 8 Years 8 Tourneys 9 Big Dance Wins. New Big East 8 Years 2 Tourneys 0 Big Dance Wins. Why is this