6-6-6

[DoctorV]

1) Jesuit education is amazing. God is Great, so lets just get that in here. We Are Marquette.

2) The Past
     A) Good out of conference.
     B) Rough month so far. 0-2 start in conference.
     C) A NET in the 60s, still squarely alive for a bid

3) The First 6
     A) The next 6 games are the most important part of the season.
     B) @ StJ and GTown
          V Creighton, Prov, DePaul, SH
     C) 4-2 or better is likely a must. 3-3 would leave things still in play. 2 wins or worse means a 2-6 conf start and likely blouses for the dance hopes.

4) The Next 6
       A) Holy Crap
       B) @ Nova, SH, Providence, UConn
            V Xavier, Nova
       C) Um what? I though December was brutal. 2 wins here would be an overachievement. That's 6 ranked teams (UConn will be ranked again), 4 on the road, and the two home games v top 3 teams in conference.
        D) If the first 6 goes poorly I already feel for Shaka and the guys during this stretch. It could snowball really bad. If the first 6 goes well, then playing with house money could get them a couple wins. Coming out of this 6-8 in conference would be fantastic.

5) The Final 6
        A) Would be nice to have something to play for outside of growth and process
        B) @Butler, Creighton, DePaul
             V GTown, Butler, StJ
        C) OK so with preseason expectations this is a 3-4 win stretch at best. With tourney expectations, if the first and second 6 go well enough, this is a 4 win stretch at worst.

It's incredible how this season is broken down in stretches of difficulty.

MU was 7-1 before December.
MU is 1-4 in December (@StJ left).
MU then has 6 very playable games (beginning w @StJ).
MU then has a stretch of 6 brutal games.
MU closes with 6 very winnable games.

And yet we still really have no idea what to expect. Then there's the covid wildcard.
Game just ended but I'm ready for the next, can't wait to see how it plays out.

[WarriorPride68]

[MUEng92]

Late entry for post of the year!

[Daniel]

Glad you got the God thing up front with the ominous 6-6-6 lol,
Merry Christmas.  Nice work

[DoctorV]

The first 6 ends with a 4-1 record, @StJ postponed/cancelled.

I said 4-2 or better is likely a must in this stretch and Marquette definitely exceeded expectations.

It's not only the 4-1 record, but the way it was achieved. The huge margin wins versus Providence and GTown were huge for the metrics, and there's been a 40 spot jump in the NET.

Could've, and maybe should've, been 5-0. That said, I can't really see how this stretch could have gone any better.

The GAUNTLET of the next 6 looms, and we should all be hopeful. I still think 2 wins in this stretch would be a win, coming out of it 6-7 in conference and needing 4 more wins to dance. Playing with a lot of steam and a ton of house money here, and I don't ever remember MU having this difficult of a 3 week stretch.

Marquette is on a 4 game winning streak after opening conference 0-3.
Instead this board is pissing and moaning about a foul call at the end of the game and complaining that we can't grab a damn rebound....
Marquette would have won in overtime anyway, so who cares if it wasn't a foul?!?

Life is great as a Marquette fan right now, enjoy it!

Can't wait for Wednesday at the Pavilion.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Amen Doc

[oilcan]

This will be a rough and challenging stretch, for sure. Back in the day, the Warriors were independents. And they played ranked teams all the time. They won a lot of those games and built something special, a mystic, that attracted special players. I believe it will continue. It works at MU. It works in life. Get up. Work. Work harder. Get ready for the gauntlet.

Oh, BTW-- The two best things in life are: Being a good Catholic and ??? I can't remember the second one. Focus on that and everything else will be as simple as ordering Chinese.

[SaveOD238]

The GAUNTLET of the next 6 looms, and we should all be hopeful. I still think 2 wins in this stretch would be a win, coming out of it 6-7 in conference and needing 4 more wins to dance. Playing with a lot of steam and a ton of house money here, and I don't ever remember MU having this difficult of a 3 week stretch.

In terms of a sequence of ranked teams like this, the closest parallel might be stretch to end the Amigos senior season. 

#2 UConn (the game when DJ broke his foot)
@#6 Louisville
@#3 Pitt
#25 Syracuse
Then the big easy tournament.

[DoctorV]

Alright so it came true that it was a season of runs.

The first 6 finished 4-1, with @StJ postponed
The 100 point win v Providence was the difference maker here.

The second 6 finished with a miraculous 4-2!
Wins 2x v Nova, v X, @ SH. Massive!
2 Ls at Providence and UConn

The last 6 went 3-3
Ls @ CU, Butler, DePaul
Ws v GTown, Butler, StJ

Seems like Armageddon to most, but I mentioned in another post that I suspected a slight meltdown of sorts loomed after the high of the mid 6 with the ranking and all.

All in all woulda liked to see 4-2 in the final stretch, but this team handled the middle 6 so well that they have earned a bid and have put themselves in position to not only make the dance, but win a tournament game.

Plus it's been hella fun, no?

[Newsdreams]

Alright so it came true that it was a season of runs.

The first 6 finished 4-1, with @StJ postponed
The 100 point win v Providence was the difference maker here.

The second 6 finished with a miraculous 4-2!
Wins 2x v Nova, v X, @ SH. Massive!
2 Ls at Providence and UConn

The last 6 went 3-3
Ls @ CU, Butler, DePaul
Ws v GTown, Butler, StJ

Seems like Armageddon to most, but I mentioned in another post that I suspected a slight meltdown of sorts loomed after the high of the mid 6 with the ranking and all.

All in all woulda liked to see 4-2 in the final stretch, but this team handled the middle 6 so well that they have earned a bid and have put themselves in position to not only make the dance, but win a tournament game.

Plus it's been hella fun, no?

At least we scored more than 50 in the final run!