Grade Non-Con

[Lennys Tap]

Non-con performance is both the team performance and Athletic Department performance, IMO.

C'mon.

[brewcity77]

Nobody is obsessed with your grading. Pointing out that it is based on unrealistic mathematical and scientific data doesn't indicate obsession. Defending provably unrealistic expectations is where obsession enters the discussion.

And yet you keep responding...

You are looking at probabilities that I do not feel accurately represent what this team should be. The team we saw against Maryland, Purdue, Wisconsin, & first half Dayton was what I expected this team to be. When in the vast majority of minutes played they were meeting my expectations, I don't view that as unrealistic. Maybe spend less time looking at probabilities and more watching the games.

[HutchwasClutch]

The ISU TV situation was beyond MU's control. That was a Big 12 call.

I'll back you up on that Dayton series all day. Should we schedule SLU because there's history there? VCU because of Shaka? Davidson so they can avenge the first round loss?

I don't want to hear "Good for Marquette, a lot of high majors wouldn't play at Dayton." That's because a lot of high majors are smarter than MU.

Shaka is just so in over his head 🙄

[Newsdreams]

What grade do you give Marquette's non-conference performance?

No Arby's?

[Goose]

Very solid non conference in my opinion. They did not have their A game last night and that happens.

I would give the team a B+ thus far. I think this team showed their ceiling for crazy high performance is slightly lower than last couple years and their floor seems higher to me.

[brewcity77]

The ISU TV situation was beyond MU's control. That was a Big 12 call.

I'll back you up on that Dayton series all day. Should we schedule SLU because there's history there? VCU because of Shaka? Davidson so they can avenge the first round loss?

I don't want to hear "Good for Marquette, a lot of high majors wouldn't play at Dayton." That's because a lot of high majors are smarter than MU.

The ISU game could've been optioned to ESPNEWS, ESPNU, or FS2. That not happening is on par with the Georgia TV situation, where someone else had the rights, but Marquette has a vested interest and voice in how it's handled.

And exact same thoughts on SLU or VCU. It's the same reason we don't play Green Bay or Milwaukee anymore. You wanna be a big boy, act like it. Gonzaga is the only non-P4 program we should give a home and home to.

[The Sultan]

But the question was Marquette's non-con performance. For me those two are linked.

I'm sorry, but you fly to the Bahamas with no broadcast plan and get a top-6 matchup relegated to a streaming platform and can't get it moved to somewhere more accessible, that's a failure. No, not an on-court failure, but a Marquette failure.

And I mostly kept my Dayton thoughts in private conversations because, from a bracketologist perspective, it could be an okay addition if (but only if) you sweep that series. We basically handed them an at-large bid at our expense, and I mean expense literally because having Dayton on next year's schedule instead of a high major actively hurts the program.

We are Marquette. We aspire to again be the Champs of a league that has seen their best NCAA teams win 4 of the last 8 national championships. We should act like it.

When Villanova last won a national championship, they played a game in Allentown against Lafayette and two Big 5 road games.

Anyway, I agree it's not ideal, but it's fine and won't have a significant bearing on MU's ultimate success.

[The Sultan]

You are looking at probabilities that I do not feel accurately represent what this team should be.

Well, then I guess this observation of yours might be accurate.

But maybe I just had higher standards coming in.

You can set whatever standards you like, but just like last year, I think they are unreasonably high.

[Uncle Rico]

When Villanova last won a national championship, they played a game in Allentown against Lafayette and two Big 5 road games.

Anyway, I agree it's not ideal, but it's fine and won't have a significant bearing on MU's ultimate success.

Personally, I feel playing in a hostile environment like Dayton last night served a far better purpose than playing at say Cal or some other bad-to-mediocre P4 school

[MUfan12]

Shaka is just so in over his head 🙄

Oh GTFOH. Shaka and Broeker have done a really good job of scheduling. But I think this was a misstep. Your opinion may vary.

[Lennys Tap]

And yet you keep responding...

You are looking at probabilities that I do not feel accurately represent what this team should be. The team we saw against Maryland, Purdue, Wisconsin, & first half Dayton was what I expected this team to be. When in the vast majority of minutes played they were meeting my expectations, I don't view that as unrealistic. Maybe spend less time looking at probabilities and more watching the games.

Ah, science be damned when we have the Brew eye test to go by. LOL

[DoctorV]

Personally, I feel playing in a hostile environment like Dayton last night served a far better purpose than playing at say Cal or some other bad-to-mediocre P4 school

This ^

The P4 of today isn't the P4 we were used to in the past

Half of those teams in the ACC and plenty in the B10 are currently awful programs.

Facing Dayton in a home and home this year and next is better for Marquette than facing several of the P4 teams imo.
Would fans get that much more fired up about a home game versus USC, Washington, Boston College, Cal, Georgia Tech, Minnesota, TCU, etc?

I understand it based off historical mid major scheduling fear, but Dayton is a very good program under Anthony Grant

[The Sultan]

Personally, I feel playing in a hostile environment like Dayton last night served a far better purpose than playing at say Cal or some other bad-to-mediocre P4 school

And Dayton would be a bigger draw than Cal next year. As evidenced in this very topic, many Marquette fans have siblings and friends who went to Dayton.

[HutchwasClutch]

Oh GTFOH. Shaka and Broeker have done a really good job of scheduling. But I think this was a misstep. Your opinion may vary.

You changed your statement from "That's because a lot of high majors are smarter than MU." to now being a "misstep".  Just admit your first comment was stupid instead of pretending you said or meant something else. 

[wadesworld]

We played a Q1 road game.

When we scheduled all cupcakes and Wisconsin at home people cried about not scheduling enough tough games. Now we're scheduling Q1 road games and we're above that. 

Also, Marquette had literally absolutely zero ability to do anything about what station the Iowa State game is on. The idea that Marquette just chose ESPN+ for a game the B12 had the rights to instead of Broeker just getting on the phone and getting that thing on big Fox, ESPN, NBC, and ABC at the same time shows your "expectations" aren't just higher than other people's, they're simply out of touch with reality.

[MUfan12]

You changed your statement from "That's because a lot of high majors are smarter than MU." to now being a "misstep".  Just admit your first comment was stupid instead of pretending you said or meant something else.

Smart people make dumb decisions sometimes. I think was dumb to schedule this home and home. And pretty much every other high major would agree, based on how few go to Dayton.

Hope that helps clear this up for you.

[Uncle Rico]

And Dayton would be a bigger draw than Cal next year. As evidenced in this very topic, many Marquette fans have siblings and friends who went to Dayton.

I'd add, there's a personal comnection between Shaka and Grant, too.  Relationships matter to the program

[Hards Alumni]

Why is that? Maryland, Dayton, Georgia, Purdue, Wisconsin, those are all games that considering the location we were supposed to win. We did nothing to overachieve, so I'm not sure how you get to a B, much less B+.

An average grade is a C. Going 10-1 against this schedule would merit a C. But 9-2 with a required return game that never should be played other than as a buy game? That's below average.

But maybe I just had higher standards coming in.

Agree.  Our best win was @Maryland which leaves me wondering what could have been... and where we really are.

[K1 Lover]

Every time we have these grading things, I'm typically a harsh grader. I think y'all take my grades way too seriously, but if you put Dayton on the schedule, you absolutely have to sweep that, and even then it's still a half letter grade knock for me.

First off, including the athletic department in a grading of player performances is just stupid. There's no Naismith award for AD of the year, and Bill Scholl isn't going to win us six games in March. No one's obsessed with your grading - only annoyed by the fact that what you're saying effectively detracts from how well our players have actually been doing on the floor. That lack of appreciation gives me the impression you've never actually played a sport.

Secondly, are you really a harsh grader, or are you simply such a passionate Dayton hater that it not-so-subtly influences your entire perception of the non-con slate. I can't help but be reminded of something you said in this article you wrote five months ago:

"I am still mad at Dayton about this. I do not want to play them. Yes, I am being a sore loser about it. I do not care."

Would it be fair to say this same attitude guided your grading as well?

[The Sultan]

Right, if they would have scheduled someone like LaSalle home and home, I wouldn't be happy about it. But Dayton is fine.  Not ideal, but acceptable.

It would be nice if we could get access to some of the one off games that UConn and the Zags played at MSG last night. But we just aren't at that level yet. Need to get to a couple Final Fours before we can be that type of draw.

[cheebs09]

I could also see the emphasis on a winnable road game to help seeding. Coming out of the non-con with 2 road wins would have really bolstered the resume.

Also, we get Dayton at home with probably a much less experienced team. I get that we didn't give a Buffalo or other similar level school a Home and Home, but some of this might be the trade off of not doing an MTE. You have to schedule more higher quality games that were taken care of for you before.

[cheebs09]

Not that these grades really mean anything, but docking the grade due to tv situation to me seems equivalent to changing the grade based on how much you like the throwback yellow and player designed jerseys.

[brewcity77]

First off, including the athletic department in a grading of player performances is just stupid.

Read the opening post. It says nothing about player performances. That's you putting your own feelings into my assessment.

[brewcity77]

I can't help but be reminded of something you said in this article you wrote five months ago:

"I am still mad at Dayton about this. I do not want to play them. Yes, I am being a sore loser about it. I do not care."

Would it be fair to say this same attitude guided your grading as well?

I know you're new here, but I didn't write that. I'm not Brewtown Andy nor have I ever written for Anonymous Eagle.

[MUfan12]

Just so I'm not accused of being unfair or thinking our outstanding coach is in over his head...

I do think scheduling is going to be increasingly difficult moving forward. With the mega-leagues and diminishing role of MTEs it's going to be harder to get quality non-con games against power conference teams. They'll need to get creative.