2023 Champ Week Thread

[MUEng92]

Does that have something to do with the annoying basketball fan who does something in music?

[ZiggysFryBoy]

But only the few and the proud can differentiate two members of the same basketball team.

🤣🤣🤣

[Goose]

panda

Thanks for the laugh.

[MU82]

Extra fun because Liberty lost in heartbreaking fashion.

Thoughts.

[WhiteTrash]

Just to be clear; Drake is named after a hip-hop star and Marquette University is in Michigan. Correct? 

[panda]

panda

Thanks for the laugh.

Getting the goose chuckle is a higher honor than knowing ball. Thanks for making me weekend

[wisblue]

Two conference tournament finals tonight, both involving teams projected as possible 14 seeds. In other words, possible first round NCAA opponents for a 3 seed.

Furman in the Southern Conference and Louisiana (fka Southwest Louisiana and Louisiana-Lafayette) in the Sun Belt. Both games at 6 PM CST.

[wisblue]

Also, the West Coast semis featuring Gonzaga and St. Mary's will tell us if a bid stealer is still a possibility.

UWM has its semifinal against Cleveland State on ESPN2 at 8:30.

[lawdog77]

Kennesaw State beats Liberty 67-66 to win the ASun.  First bid in their history.

Congrats to the fighting mountain landis's

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Two conference tournament finals tonight, both involving teams projected as possible 14 seeds. In other words, possible first round NCAA opponents for a 3 seed.

Furman in the Southern Conference and Louisiana (fka Southwest Louisiana and Louisiana-Lafayette) in the Sun Belt. Both games at 6 PM CST.

At risk of sounding COLE, UL-Lafayette is a team I'd rather not see in the first round. They are a top 25 offensive rebounding team. 4/6 of our losses are to top 25 offensive rebounding teams. Obviously I'd still expect a dominant victory, just other teams I'd rather matchup with. Really want this monkey off the back

[wisblue]

I pay attention to the Ivy League and, now that my Disney Bundle includes ESPN+, I get to see a number of Ivy games on TV.

Yale is the favorite in this weekend's 4 team Ivy tournament, and they are also projected as a14 seed. IMHO Yale, or any of the other Ivy contenders, would be a favorable matchup for MU.

The Ivies have produced some pretty good teams in recent years, like the Cornell team that pounded Wisconsin in a second round game, the Harvard teams that pulled at least one and maybe two first round upsets, and the Princeton team that took Notre Dame to a last shot. But, I don't think this year's teams meet that standard and will have a tough time against a team with better athletic talent that plays a disciplined style. They may not have the same trouble Yale had against Edey at the FF last year, but I would  be surprised if they can stay with any of this year's 3 seeds.

[Goose]

panda

Keep up the good work. How about those Marquette Warriors?

[mugrad_89]

Also, the West Coast semis featuring Gonzaga and St. Mary's will tell us if a bid stealer is still a possibility.

UWM has its semifinal against Cleveland State on ESPN2 at 8:30.

Did anyone else notice the ridiculous bracket the WCC came up with?  They're basically saying they want either St Mary's or Gonzaga to win it.

[The Sultan]

Did anyone else notice the ridiculous bracket the WCC came up with?  They're basically saying they want either St Mary's or Gonzaga to win it.

Other conferences have done similar things in the past.  I don't know if that's still the case.

[SaveOD238]

Did anyone else notice the ridiculous bracket the WCC came up with?  They're basically saying they want either St Mary's or Gonzaga to win it.

This has been the WCC bracket for years.

Honestly more of the lower tier conferences should do this.  It would help their top teams make the Big Dance, increasing their chances for upset and those sweet sweet tourney credit $$$$$$.

[WhiteTrash]

Did anyone else notice the ridiculous bracket the WCC came up with?  They're basically saying they want either St Mary's or Gonzaga to win it.

Ha! I just looked it up and it is ridiculous. Maybe Gonzaga will never leave the WCC with that setup.

[JWags85]

BYU finishes top 5 and has to win 4 games in a 10 team conference.  Just preposterous

[mugrad_89]

This has been the WCC bracket for years.

Honestly more of the lower tier conferences should do this.  It would help their top teams make the Big Dance, increasing their chances for upset and those sweet sweet tourney credit $$$$$$.

No, I think in the past, they only gave byes to the top 4 teams.

[panda]

panda

Keep up the good work. How about those Marquette Warriors?

Absolutely love it. I'll be the first to admit the Wojo years broke me as a fan. I couldn't stand watching that brand of basketball absent of any sort of mental/physical toughness and such a low team basketball IQ. To compound it, hearing fans repeat over and over to "trust the process" crushed me. The depths our program fell to and many accepting it killed me.

The past two seasons have been nothing short of incredible. What Shaka has done with his roster construction and player development is second to none. Kolek wasn't even a point guard coming here and now he's one of the best in the country. It speaks the system he's created and how much buy in each player on the roster puts forth.

Bright days ahead goose ! Let's just win a few more games.

[Goose]

panda

I agree with your post completely. I felt badly being a wet blanket in the Wojo era, but I believed that MU basketball was better than MU was selling. There is no doubt some folks accepted the product that was being provided and it frustrated the hell out of me.

I agree on the past two years being incredible. It has brought back excitement and the understanding of MU basketball can look like.

Let's keep this season going and enjoy every moment of it. I have not enjoyed a season like this one on my adult life.

[panda]

panda

I agree with your post completely. I felt badly being a wet blanket in the Wojo era, but I believed that MU basketball was better than MU was selling. There is no doubt some folks accepted the product that was being provided and it frustrated the hell out of me.

I agree on the past two years being incredible. It has brought back excitement and the understanding of MU basketball can look like.

Let's keep this season going and enjoy every moment of it. I have not enjoyed a season like this one on my adult life.

Agree - this has the feeling of a special season.

[mugrad_89]

panda

I agree with your post completely. I felt badly being a wet blanket in the Wojo era, but I believed that MU basketball was better than MU was selling. There is no doubt some folks accepted the product that was being provided and it frustrated the hell out of me.

I agree on the past two years being incredible. It has brought back excitement and the understanding of MU basketball can look like.

Let's keep this season going and enjoy every moment of it. I have not enjoyed a season like this one on my adult life.

It wasn't hard to be a wet blanket in the previous era as every year became wash, rinse, repeat.  We saw signs last year of what was to become and this year has truly been a blast.

[Uncle Rico]

NIT dance card getting filled up.  Hofstra and Youngstown State heading there after losing in their conference semi-finals.

Furman dancing for the first time since 1980.  Louisiana for the first time since 2014.

[PointWarrior]

Watching ESPN2 prior to UWM game - Crean and Wojo, Crean needs to turn down the tanning bed knob a bit, Wojo could use a tanning bed installed at his house. 

[fjm]

NIT dance card getting filled up.  Hofstra and Youngstown State heading there after losing in their conference semi-finals.

Furman dancing for the first time since 1980.  Louisiana for the first time since 2014.

Quite a few fun games so far tonight. Hope Milwaukee wins