Expectation for First Weekend

[JakeBarnes]

Kevin Holden
@321cuekevin
Happy Selection Sunday!

ESPN's latest Bracketology has the Badgers as a 3 seed, playing in Milwaukee and opening against 14 seed Akron (then facing Colorado St or a play-in winner in the second round).

Marquette is listed as a 10 seed, playing in Indianapolis against Boise St.
10:24 AM · Mar 13, 2022·Twitter Web App

This would be a fantastic draw both in terms of location and opponent.

[DoctorV]

Workday?  Thur/Fri are mandatory PTO days for hoops fans!

^^^

I've scheduled off Thursday/Friday of the tournament for many years, even when MU isn't dancing.

I've learned in years past that with the amount of time I put into Marquette hoops, and the amount of viewing hours during the course of the season, I cannot with good conscience miss a Marquette NCAAt win.
The risk that they land early on thurs/fri (more likely Thursday this year) is too high, and I hate playing the schedule a few hours off to watch the game dance, it's just never as enjoyable.

Now the most important part of that is the win part, that would be the icing on the cake. I enjoy ncaa basketball and the ncaa tournament so much though that the Thursday-Sunday experience becomes a sort of a mental and physical personal break, a great personal vacation.

I last minute scheduled off the year Marquette came back to beat Davidson and it was amazing.
Hoping this year with have some joy as well, we're due!

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Workday?  Thur/Fri are mandatory PTO days for hoops fans!

Yeahhhh, my job doesn't really work that way anymore unfortunately. I used to take the days off every year, but I haven't had pto for a few years. I of course will 100% be watching basketball Thu/fri and will not miss a second of the MU game. Just not ideal.

[We R Final Four]

Anybody could have said the exact same thing on Jan. 2 - and many Scoopers did.

But yes, I do understand why you and others are pessimistic.
L

I don't  think its a faucet that you can just turn on when you want to. Hoping for a win.

[Tha Hound]

The latest bracketology I look at has MU (9) playing Memphis (8). I watched Memphis yesterday. They are quick and athletic, but undisciplined. I felt MU could beat them. Looking at the other 8 seeds this is the one I would want to play.

Lol they are probably our worst possible match up.

[MU82]

I don't  think its a faucet that you can just turn on when you want to. Hoping for a win.

I also don't think it's a faucet that you can just turn on when you want to. I simply was saying that many Scoopers were very down on this team on Jan. 2 ... and 2 days later we started an 8-1 run that saw Marquette become one of the top stories in the country.

And you know what ... I'm actually way more hopeful now than I was Jan. 2.

Back then, there were not much to show we had a chance of being good. Our signature win was a 1-point fluke victory over an Illinois team that was missing an All-American center who would have had 20 rebounds against us. We got crushed by St. Bonaventure, Wisconsin and UCLA. We suffered frustrating BE losses to UConn, X and Creighton. Morsell had reverted to his 4-years-at-Maryland offensive mean. O-Max was a non-factor. Idiots were starting threads that Kolek was nothing more than an A-10 guard. Etc, etc, etc.

But now ... we know that when our guys play well and make shots, we can beat Villanova (twice!), and NCAAT-caliber teams like Providence and Seton Hall. We know it's there.

Sports is filled with ebbs and flows and twists and turns. Like you, I'm hoping the ebbs and flows go Marquette's way again.

We Are Marquette!

[We R Final Four]

Lets hope that team that beat Nova twice shows up this week.....haven't seen THAT team for a long while now.

[BrewCity83]

#NoExpectations

Let's Gooooooooooooooo!!!

6 more games to win; I think we'd all be ecstatic if we could win 2.

[JakeBarnes]

#NoExpectations

Let's Gooooooooooooooo!!!

6 more games to win; I think we'd all be ecstatic if we could win 2.

I'll be ecstatic if we win one. 2 I am over the moon.

[oilcan]

Lazy isn't the right term anyways.  Uninspired is it. The team isn't playing for each other. Justin loves to drive and (usually hit) some tough shots rather than looking for teammates that are spaced out. Tyler wants to drive and trap himself on the baseline trying to find a circus pass rather than the right pass. Darryl is great when his shot falls, but isn't looking for anyone when he gets 3 people to collapse on him. Honestly, our best unselfish player right now is probably O-max. He drives and dishes and is starting to see confidence in his shot.

There's just no ball movement right now. We got fat off of Tyler's razzle dazzle passes and never evolved. To make it worse, now we're (primarily) 5 guys on the floor looking to get theirs like an AAU game. Hope they find the spark to look for each other again. Maybe the week off and some practice will help. Bring back Mrs. Shaka for the speech about letting their hair down and being accountable to each other.

This is the best assessment of this team as I have seen on this forum.

[JakeBarnes]

Lazy isn't the right term anyways.  Uninspired is it. The team isn't playing for each other. Justin loves to drive and (usually hit) some tough shots rather than looking for teammates that are spaced out. Tyler wants to drive and trap himself on the baseline trying to find a circus pass rather than the right pass. Darryl is great when his shot falls, but isn't looking for anyone when he gets 3 people to collapse on him. Honestly, our best unselfish player right now is probably O-max. He drives and dishes and is starting to see confidence in his shot.

There's just no ball movement right now. We got fat off of Tyler's razzle dazzle passes and never evolved. To make it worse, now we're (primarily) 5 guys on the floor looking to get theirs like an AAU game. Hope they find the spark to look for each other again. Maybe the week off and some practice will help. Bring back Mrs. Shaka for the speech about letting their hair down and being accountable to each other.

This is the best assessment of this team as I have seen on this forum.

Thanks, I guess?

[dgies9156]

Here's why I'm excited for Thursday:

1) For Marquette, it's a far stronger emotional game than for UNC because (a) Shaka needs redemption after the Abilene Christian debacle last year; (b) We need redemption after not winning an NCAA game in nearly a decade; and, (c) It's North Carolina and we kicked their ass one other time when it mattered. Our fan base will be energized and I'd expect a huge Warrior contingent in Ft. Worth.

2) We played a similar Tar Heel team last year and actually beat them with a huge liability -- our head coach! We played them under similar circumstances to this year -- quick scheduling with a short turn -- and gave them quite a game. Of course, the roster is different for both teams but last year showed we can do it.

3) This isn't the Big East, where everybody knows everybody and has played each other to the bone.

4) Both teams have similar signature wins -- them Duke, us Illinois, Villanova, Providence and Seton Hall.

5) They're NOT Creighton and they're not coached by Greg McDermott.

Bottom line is don't confuse Dean Smith's Carolina with this group of Tar Heels. They're working to get better but they're very beatable.

[JakeBarnes]

Here's why I'm excited for Thursday:

1) For Marquette, it's a far stronger emotional game than for UNC because (a) Shaka needs redemption after the Abilene Christian debacle last year; (b) We need redemption after not winning an NCAA game in nearly a decade; and, (c) It's North Carolina and we kicked their ass one other time when it mattered. Our fan base will be energized and I'd expect a huge Warrior contingent in Ft. Worth.

2) We played a similar Tar Heel team last year and actually beat them with a huge liability -- our head coach! We played them under similar circumstances to this year -- quick scheduling with a short turn -- and gave them quite a game. Of course, the roster is different for both teams but last year showed we can do it.

3) This isn't the Big East, where everybody knows everybody and has played each other to the bone.

4) Both teams have similar signature wins -- them Duke, us Illinois, Villanova, Providence and Seton Hall.

5) They're NOT Creighton and they're not coached by Greg McDermott.

Bottom line is don't confuse Dean Smith's Carolina with this group of Tar Heels. They're working to get better but they're very beatable.

If we can run Love off the 3pt line, that would go a long way to help us. Morsell is going to have a big assignment there.

[NickelDimer]

We need the Morsell who put Markus Howard on lock to show up Thursday

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

I was actually relatively hopeful for a 1st round W without our possible matchups and was hoping to draw Baylor if we found ourselves on the 8/9 line.  But UNC is just a terrible matchup.  They're going to kill us on the boards.  I liked our chances against schools from lower level leagues where we'd have the height and athlete advantage.  Definitely don't in this instance.  Pretty much all the 7-10 seeds would have been better - Boise State, Memphis, Davidosn, Murray State, San Fran, San Diego State, Loyola.

While UNC is beatable, they're playing well lately and we.....well we are not. 

I kind of expect we'll get smoked.  Really hoping to be wrong tho. Tourney is so much more fun when we can win a game or two!

[BM1090]

I was actually relatively hopeful for a 1st round W without our possible matchups and was hoping to draw Baylor if we found ourselves on the 8/9 line.  But UNC is just a terrible matchup.  They're going to kill us on the boards.  I liked our chances against schools from lower level leagues where we'd have the height and athlete advantage.  Definitely don't in this instance.  Pretty much all the 7-10 seeds would have been better - Boise State, Memphis, Davidosn, Murray State, San Fran, San Diego State, Loyola.

While UNC is beatable, they're playing well lately and we.....well we are not. 

I kind of expect we'll get smoked.  Really hoping to be wrong tho. Tourney is so much more fun when we can win a game or two!

Sure, UNC is going to kill us on the boards but so would everyone else regardless if they were a good rebounding team or not. They don't do a ton of other things well. Since we're going to get killed on the boards regardless, I'd rather play a team that's great in that area and average in other areas where we can slow them down.

[PGsHeroes32]

I was actually relatively hopeful for a 1st round W without our possible matchups and was hoping to draw Baylor if we found ourselves on the 8/9 line.  But UNC is just a terrible matchup.  They're going to kill us on the boards.  I liked our chances against schools from lower level leagues where we'd have the height and athlete advantage.  Definitely don't in this instance.  Pretty much all the 7-10 seeds would have been better - Boise State, Memphis, Davidosn, Murray State, San Fran, San Diego State, Loyola.

While UNC is beatable, they're playing well lately and we.....well we are not. 

I kind of expect we'll get smoked.  Really hoping to be wrong tho. Tourney is so much more fun when we can win a game or two!

UNC definitely might kill us, same as any other team in that range the way we are playing lately.

But they are definitely not the worst match up for us of all those teams.

[Newsdreams]

COLE

[panda]

I was actually relatively hopeful for a 1st round W without our possible matchups and was hoping to draw Baylor if we found ourselves on the 8/9 line.  But UNC is just a terrible matchup.  They're going to kill us on the boards.  I liked our chances against schools from lower level leagues where we'd have the height and athlete advantage.  Definitely don't in this instance.  Pretty much all the 7-10 seeds would have been better - Boise State, Memphis, Davidosn, Murray State, San Fran, San Diego State, Loyola.

While UNC is beatable, they're playing well lately and we.....well we are not. 

I kind of expect we'll get smoked.  Really hoping to be wrong tho. Tourney is so much more fun when we can win a game or two!

Every team kills us on the boards and we still stay competitive. It makes it harder to win, but we've won many times in spite of rebounding troubles.

Unc is a really solid matchup for us. They play zero defense and like to play fast. And when i say zero defense, I mean letting Pitt put up almost 80 on you at home zero defense.

Sure they've won a bunch of games in a row but the Acc is a dumpster fire this year.

I like our chances Thursday.

[oilcan]

We beat them last year and this year we have a better team, so we have a chance. A good chance and a great opportunity to show the young players why they signed with Marquette. We are worthy of the dance. And MU will get there next year too. Write that down. Smart will chart the course for ten years and turn this program back to being what it was. Back in the day when teams didn't want to play us. I remember those days. I don't want to hear any talk about this isn't right, or that can't work. We can't beat Villanova. Seaton Hall has our number. Horse crap. Bring on the Tar Heels. We've got there number. Golden Eagles by five.