Tues 1/5 Games: MU-PC, GTown-Creighton, Butler-DePaul

[whiteandblue77]

No slate of games at this point are good or bad for the league. Marquette beating PC going to have little impact, unless PC makes a habit of losing here on out. Creighton beating GU sure as hell isn't any worse for the league than GU beating Creighton. They have virtually the same records and RPI. Both are 2-1 in the conference. Neither one is going anywhere unless it gets to 11 or 12 wins in the league, and nothing about the game impacts any of the other teams in the conference. Each outcome is only good or bad for the two teams involved. We have 15 games to go, and any of CU, GU, MU and SH will be in the conversation if they get to 12 wins.

I would say it's best for the league that 6 go dancing with the highest seeds each one can possibly get. That means 4 teams have to eat it. As a Creighton fan I hope those 4 are SJ, Dep, MU & Gtown. Marquette beating PC hurts the Friars seed and therefore hurts the conference, UNLESS, Marquette wins out and becomes that 6th team.

[cu blujs]

Although I'd love to see us get 6 in, because I still believe CU will finish 5-6, to get to 6 in means any two other than the four that are currently top 20 must pick up quality wins by going 4-4 in the 8 games against the top 4 - maybe 3-5 would cut it, but that would be close. And 5 & 6 finishers probably need to have split the games between themselves. I think they will also have to reach no worse than the semi-finals of the tournament, possibly the finals. That means at least two of PC, Vill, Butler and X will have to lose in the quarter finals and possibly none reach the finals - which of course will be used against them in seeding. It also means the top 4 each must lose once to #5 and once to #6. That is going to drop seeding for the top 4 - probably into the 4-8 range. If two teams run away with the league, they probably get top 3 seeds. But I think the only way 6 get in is for the other two of PC, Vill, Butler and X to fall back a bit and drop down into 8-9 seed territory because of the losses they would have to suffer for 5 & 6 to get in. If your main interest is highest seeds, then you have to hope those four separate from the rest of the league, which could lead to only 4 bids. If only one of SH, CU, GU, MU or even DePaul can go 4-4 against the top 4 and avoid losses to the lower 3 or 4 teams to finish 5th, then we probably get 5 in without hurting top seeds much. 6 and maybe 7 go to the NIT. If you are Vill, PC, Butler and X, you probably are hoping for an outcome that leads to only 4 (maybe 5) getting in, because your OOC results are good enough to get you a decent seed in that case. If you are the other 6, you hope for 5 or 6 getting in at the expense of seeding for the first 4. Of course, the above presumes X, Butler, Vill and PC finish top 4. It is entirely possible that one of the other teams will push into the top 4, which would pretty much guaranty it a slot in the tournament, but again at the expense of seeding of the others. Until CU is mathematically eliminated from finishing top 4 or 5, I favor an outcome that gets 5 or 6 in over highest possible seeds for others. Right now, I am enjoying the fact the CU is tied with a few of our closest friends for 2nd place.

[billyjack]

Congrats Marquette. You guys have had our number for years. Good win on the road.

PC always struggles with Marquette. If this was in Milwaukee i think it would have been a more decisive win for marquette. Oh well. need to regroup and get ready for Creighton

It's because that Austin Croshare game in 97 we're just getting revenge annually

That Croshere comment reminded me that Wojo has some extra motivation as well!:

http://articles.philly.com/1997-03-17/sports/25569412_1_jeff-capel-providence-coach-pete-gillen-duke

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1997-03-17/sports/9703170050_1_friars-coney-island-duke

from the philly.com article, this is a great example of why i dislike Duke so much... they act like a-holes, arrogant, entitled d-bags... they when they lose they sit on the bench and cry, and the announcers spend the last minutes of the game consoling their fans... this crying sh-t happened back in 86 with Bilas and Ferry, continued thru when Seton Hall and UNLV kicked their ass in 89-90, and amazingly the crying continued even in victory, like in that Kentucky-Laettner game... again, like that Al McGuire quote says, teams take on the personalities of their coach, and Coach K has always been a whiney d-bag... also notice that we had to play these jokers in Charlotte.

Anyway, here are tbe annoying snippets from the philly article:

CHARLOTTE — The tears were flowing freely as Duke's season came to an end yesterday with a 98-87 upset loss to Providence in the NCAA Southeast Regional at the Charlotte Coliseum. At the postgame news conference, junior guard Steve Wojciechowski broke down when discussing his relationship with senior Jeff Capel after they played their final game together.

``This really hurts,'' Wojciechowski said, his voice choking with emotion. ``I could talk about Jeff the basketball player forever. What he gave me is just amazing. We are the best friends in the world. I love him.''

Capel and coach Mike Krzyzewski both rubbed their eyes while Wojciechowski spoke. Capel cried again when asked to put his final season in perspective. The Blue Devils won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title and advanced to the second round for the first time since their Final Four season in 1994, when Capel was a freshman.

``This has been the most incredible year of my life,'' he said. ``This was even better than my freshman year, because I felt this was my team. This is closest team I've ever been a part of, at any level. I love all these guys.''

[gtmoBlue]

Nice post cu blujs. Hey Ball.

"Of course, the above presumes X, Butler, Vill and PC finish top 4. It is entirely possible that one of the other teams will push into the top 4, which would pretty much guaranty it a slot in the tournament, but again at the expense of seeding of the others."

I like a 5 bid scenario. One or two of the top 4 will slip, as we have plenty of BE basketball (15 games) left to play. Doesn't matter which ones (although Philadelphia natives KNOW who i'm rooting for to fall on their wildcat asses) Butler, X, Prov? Plenty of top 4 games left so it ain't gonna be a cakewalk. Some BIG games on the 10th, 13th, 16th, 19th, and 23rd. Standings should be shaken out well by then. Some CU guy said a good assessment point is after the CU/Butler game on the 23rd...sounds good.

Good hunting to all my BE "brethren"...gonna be a fun run to the finish.