Grade Non-Con

[wadesworld]

Scheduling a home and home with Dayton reeked mid-major at the time, now it's aging even worse.

There's no upside for MU, only the downside which they are in now.

Honestly it's quite the opposite. No downside whatsoever to playing the road game this year. We lost a Q1 road game. Oh no! So will everyone in the country. We dropped a whopping 2 spots on KenPom. What a terrible loss!

The loss won't even register to the selection committee. It was a chance for a Q1 road win. That moves the needle. A Q1 road loss does not move the needle at all.

And next year with a less experienced roster we get a home game.

[Goose]

Are you guys really debating if a home and home with Dayton is good for the program? There are a lot of things in the world that I currently find troubling but this two year series makes perfect sense to me.

[Shaka Shart]

No stud of the Noncon when we lose

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Why do we think playing Dayton next season won't be a fan draw? The Fiserv was packed and rocking for fricking Buffalo when they were good a few years ago. Assuming we're a top 25 team again it'll be a possible sellout.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

B for me. We have the record I expected preaeason. I thought we would win at Dayton but lose at Maryland. Got to the B because we were more dominant in our wins than I expected and only had one half where I thought we played poorly in a meaningful game. Unfortunately it was the most recent half

[muwarrior69]

Why do we think playing Dayton next season won't be a fan draw? The Fiserv was packed and rocking for fricking Buffalo when they were good a few years ago. Assuming we're a top 25 team again it'll be a possible sellout.

The A10 looks better than the Big East this year. The Bonnies over PC and Dayton over UCONN and MU.

[MUfan12]

Why do we think playing Dayton next season won't be a fan draw? The Fiserv was packed and rocking for fricking Buffalo when they were good a few years ago. Assuming we're a top 25 team again it'll be a possible sellout.

I'm comfortable saying MU will take a sizable step back next year. The on-off splits with Kam are terrifying.

Buffalo just came off a big tournament upset the year before, brought everyone back, and was undefeated and ranked 14th in the country. If Dayton can equal that, wonderful. I'll eat crow about scheduling them.

[Billy Hoyle]

Why do we think playing Dayton next season won't be a fan draw? The Fiserv was packed and rocking for fricking Buffalo when they were good a few years ago. Assuming we're a top 25 team again it'll be a possible sellout.

We've hit point for the program where we don't need big name opponents to draw. The only area where that is the case is with students and we're still filling the section far more than we did during the days of Deane and the first two seasons under Crean. There are still far more student diehards than who will show up for anyone than there were when I was at MU in the late 90s.

[Scoop Snoop]

The A10 looks better than the Big East this year. The Bonnies over PC and Dayton over UCONN and MU.

You're gonna PAY for this post.

[Galway Eagle]

The A10 looks better than the Big East this year. The Bonnies over PC and Dayton over UCONN and MU.

But also MU over George Mason.

[The Sultan]

The A10 looks better than the Big East this year.

Not even close

https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/rpi-ranking/rpi-rating-by-conf

[MUfan12]

We've hit point for the program where we don't need big name opponents to draw. The only area where that is the case is with students and we're still filling the section far more than we did during the days of Deane and the first two seasons under Crean. There are still far more student diehards than who will show up for anyone than there were when I was at MU in the late 90s.

Yes and no. It certainly still helps, and we're a down season away from the attendance falling back a bit.

The one area that could be difficult with this return game is the timing, while fitting Purdue and Maryland around the UW game. If it's a weekend game there will be a sizable Dayton contingent there. They have a bunch of Chicago area alumni.

[Uncle Rico]

Yes and no. It certainly still helps, and we're a down season away from the attendance falling back a bit.

The one area that could be difficult with this return game is the timing, while fitting Purdue and Maryland around the UW game. If it's a weekend game there will be a sizable Dayton contingent there. They have a bunch of Chicago area alumni.

Make it a gold package game

[brewcity77]

Why do we think playing Dayton next season won't be a fan draw? The Fiserv was packed and rocking for fricking Buffalo when they were good a few years ago. Assuming we're a top 25 team again it'll be a possible sellout.

Buffalo was an incredibly fortunate situation though. They were ranked #14 largely on the strength of their stunning win over preseason #13 West Virginia in OT. That WVU team went 15-21 FWIW. If Dayton comes in ranked in the #12 they might be a similar draw. But other than the 2020 Obi Toppin season, Dayton has been ranked that high for a total of one week since 1967-68.

Their name alone is not a draw, so unless they find lightning in a bottle with next year's roster with 4 of their top-6 rotation players ineligible to return, them being a draw on their own merit is unlikely. Color me skeptical. If they want to come as a buy game, fine, but otherwise they should not be on our schedule.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Buffalo was an incredibly fortunate situation though. They were ranked #14 largely on the strength of their stunning win over preseason #13 West Virginia in OT. That WVU team went 15-21 FWIW. If Dayton comes in ranked in the #12 they might be a similar draw. But other than the 2020 Obi Toppin season, Dayton has been ranked that high for a total of one week since 1967-68.

Their name alone is not a draw, so unless they find lightning in a bottle with next year's roster with 4 of their top-6 rotation players ineligible to return, them being a draw on their own merit is unlikely. Color me skeptical. If they want to come as a buy game, fine, but otherwise they should not be on our schedule.

If youre going to give casual fans enough credit to know that Buffalo that Buffalo was a good low major opponet that year,  you gotta give them enough credit to know that Dayton is one of the top mid majors every season.

Unless we tank, that game will be packed

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I'm comfortable saying MU will take a sizable step back next year. The on-off splits with Kam are terrifying.

Buffalo just came off a big tournament upset the year before, brought everyone back, and was undefeated and ranked 14th in the country. If Dayton can equal that, wonderful. I'll eat crow about scheduling them.

See what i said to Brew about casual fans. If they knew about Buffalo, they'll know about Dayton.

I'm also terrified of the Kam on/off splits but it's early and our top bench PG is injured and our second bench PG is a freshman who missed a lot of offseason due to injury. Plenty of time to put a plan together for next season

[The Sultan]

If youre going to give casual fans enough credit to know that Buffalo that Buffalo was a good low major opponet that year,  you gotta give them enough credit to know that Dayton is one of the top mid majors every season.

Unless we tank, that game will be packed

Not just that, but a lot of Marquette alumni have family and friends who went to Dayton. If you graduated anytime prior to 1990, you will remember Dayton as a team that they played every year. If it's played on a Saturday afternoon or night like the road game was, it will be packed.

Again, not my preferred non-conference opponent, but it works.

[jesmu84]

https://x.com/HolyLandofHoops/status/1868678179306815897?t=SUw60OmyvCmyA3HJlpmngg&s=19

Shaka speaks:

https://x.com/phillpmcg/status/1868707519805415695?t=hN6xOzU_ULQt_qBKVw2pmw&s=19

[NCMUFan]

https://x.com/HolyLandofHoops/status/1868678179306815897?t=SUw60OmyvCmyA3HJlpmngg&s=19

Shaka speaks:

https://x.com/phillpmcg/status/1868707519805415695?t=hN6xOzU_ULQt_qBKVw2pmw&s=19

If getting ready for the NCAA tourney is your goal, then play high quality non-conf opponents away.
If you goal is a nice record and possibly higher ranking, then play cupcakes at home.

[UWW2MU]

Marquette opened as -1.5 against Dayton and was favored in every advanced metric. I don't care what the closing line was, we were the favorite last night.

I could have sworn Torvik had that one as a loss.

[Skatastrophy]

I came here for the AB jokes and was not disappointed.

[StillWarriors]

Why do we think playing Dayton next season won't be a fan draw? The Fiserv was packed and rocking for fricking Buffalo when they were good a few years ago. Assuming we're a top 25 team again it'll be a possible sellout.

MU fans better show up, and I think they will, because there is no doubt Dayton will have a large turnout in Milwaukee.

[Galway Eagle]

Not just that, but a lot of Marquette alumni have family and friends who went to Dayton. If you graduated anytime prior to 1990, you will remember Dayton as a team that they played every year. If it's played on a Saturday afternoon or night like the road game was, it will be packed.

Again, not my preferred non-conference opponent, but it works.

That was 35 years ago and Dayton wasn't that great 2 NCAA appearances in the 80 and 3 NITs makes our 80s stretch look good. The family & friends argument is stronger, in a similar reason ND is fun, or Creighton X & DePaul (could be) there's a lot of overlap in social circles that would make it enjoyable.

If youre going to give casual fans enough credit to know that Buffalo that Buffalo was a good low major opponet that year,  you gotta give them enough credit to know that Dayton is one of the top mid majors every season.

Unless we tank, that game will be packed

I think we're giving credit that people were excited we brought in a top 15 opponent not that they knew Buffalo was a top mid major for one year coming off another solid year. If Dayton (and us) aren't ranked I doubt it's that packed. And if we're playing immediately after finals again then I don't expect the students to be there en mass either.

[Viper]

Are you guys really debating if a home and home with Dayton is good for the program? There are a lot of things in the world that I currently find troubling but this two year series makes perfect sense to me.

Goose, I agree. Dayton is probably the best A-10 team in terms of program, facility, fan base, imo. Heck, wouldn't Dayton be a better addition to the BE than DeP currently is, or Gtown has been of late? Frustrating loss on Saturday because that was a very winnable road game. But, we remain top 10, so all good.

[Goose]

Viper

Agreed. I cannot say that Dayton would be on my dream non-conference wish list, but definitely a worthy amount and I am good with a home-home deal. Playing in a tough environment never hurts get a team ready. If you MU needed another non-conference win for seeding thank they are not as good as their ranking.