This Year So Far

[kayako]

Lunardi's newest bracket has 6 BE teams in. Curiously, Butler went from not even among the first 8 out to a solid 9th seed.

[stever20]

Lunardi's newest bracket has 6 BE teams in. Curiously, Butler went from not even among the first 8 out to a solid 9th seed.

yeah I noticed that. I'm guessing with the road win last night, he's feeling more confidant in them getting to 19 wins overall which would be a 9 seed most likely.

Tonight a huge game for Providence.

[jfan]

I just want to watch great Big East competition and fantastic talent, and let the chips fall where they may. I'm here to be entertained with exciting hard-nosed balls-out hoops, which is what the Big East provides. We have the toughest conference top to bottom, each with great fanbases and traditions and competitiveness.

I absolutely do not want to micromanage and manipulate and micro-analyze every freakin win and loss by every freakin team, over thext 3 months, the way Stever loves and wants us to do it.

Ok, no f-cking way am i going to once again let this board turn into a f-cking math problem from now til March. Especially since even if we get 7 or 8 bids, Stever will try to dismiss it anyway. So it's a never-ending loop that will never end, run by a guy who will never be satisfied with our results.

Ok, i just want to watch elite basketball, so I'm neutral unless Providence is playing. I'm neutral watching Butler play Georgetown. I'm neutral watching Villanova vs DePaul, etc.

To paraphrase what The Simpsons said about Bill James and Sabermetrics:

"Stever makes college hoops as much fun as doing your taxes".

Amen!-- Or to our Butler friends----Yes!

[Xudash]

It was a great opening night last night.

I feel terrible for the Hoya fans, but the road back to learning how to win doesn't travel easily, especially against a team that is well experienced in travelling it. That put back was amazing last night. Butler made sure the right people were executing on offense at the end of the game. Georgetown, not so much. I know nothing of that Blair kid's credentials or pedigree, but damn.

Xavier v. Marquette? Getting a "W" in Milwaukee this season will not be easy for anyone. I don't know what else to offer here besides that, except that, perception or not, I cringed and waited every time a 3-ball was hoisted by Marquette. It was a rather amazing display of hitting deep from all over. Frankly, I also liked whatever was going on between Macura and Rowsey towards the end. I believe a Xavier player was ready to shoot FT's, when the camera panned to those two. They appeared to be having a friendly conversation in the heat of battle.

Finally, as a minor point, while Nova was dismantling DePaul yet again, it was refreshing to at least watch the game play out in the new arena. Think about it. The Big East's worst team plays in Chicago in a spiffy new place. It will be interesting in this conference when the Blue Demons get it going again.

St. Johns is tracking back in the right direction. Perhaps Patrick can get things under control in D.C. Imagine if and when all three programs are firing on all cylinders, and if that's done while the other 7 continue in reasonably strong fashion for them.

[gtmoBlue]

It was a great opening night last night.

I feel terrible for the Hoya fans, but the road back to learning how to win doesn't travel easily, especially against a team that is well experienced in travelling it. That put back was amazing last night. Butler made sure the right people were executing on offense at the end of the game. Georgetown, not so much. I know nothing of that Blair kid's credentials or pedigree, but damn.

Xavier v. Marquette? Getting a "W" in Milwaukee this season will not be easy for anyone. I don't know what else to offer here besides that, except that, perception or not, I cringed and waited every time a 3-ball was hoisted by Marquette. It was a rather amazing display of hitting deep from all over. Frankly, I also liked whatever was going on between Macura and Rowsey towards the end. I believe a Xavier player was ready to shoot FT's, when the camera panned to those two. They appeared to be having a friendly conversation in the heat of battle.

Finally, as a minor point, while Nova was dismantling DePaul yet again, it was refreshing to at least watch the game play out in the new arena. Think about it. The Big East's worst team plays in Chicago in a spiffy new place. It will be interesting in this conference when the Blue Demons get it going again.

St. Johns is tracking back in the right direction. Perhaps Patrick can get things under control in D.C. Imagine if and when all three programs are firing on all cylinders, and if that's done while the other 7 continue in reasonably strong fashion for them.

Xudash...
Great sentiment in wanting teams to rebuild and compete. However, even if all 10 are strong, someone (a few) have to be the bottom. Can't have everyone 10-8, 9-9, 8-10. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few years.
Of course adding the Billikens & Bonnies would raise the rest (JP Schmack), but we know that story.

[ChestRockwell85]

It was a great opening night last night.

I feel terrible for the Hoya fans, but the road back to learning how to win doesn't travel easily, especially against a team that is well experienced in travelling it. That put back was amazing last night. Butler made sure the right people were executing on offense at the end of the game. Georgetown, not so much. I know nothing of that Blair kid's credentials or pedigree, but damn.

Xavier v. Marquette? Getting a "W" in Milwaukee this season will not be easy for anyone. I don't know what else to offer here besides that, except that, perception or not, I cringed and waited every time a 3-ball was hoisted by Marquette. It was a rather amazing display of hitting deep from all over. Frankly, I also liked whatever was going on between Macura and Rowsey towards the end. I believe a Xavier player was ready to shoot FT's, when the camera panned to those two. They appeared to be having a friendly conversation in the heat of battle.

Finally, as a minor point, while Nova was dismantling DePaul yet again, it was refreshing to at least watch the game play out in the new arena. Think about it. The Big East's worst team plays in Chicago in a spiffy new place. It will be interesting in this conference when the Blue Demons get it going again.

St. Johns is tracking back in the right direction. Perhaps Patrick can get things under control in D.C. Imagine if and when all three programs are firing on all cylinders, and if that's done while the other 7 continue in reasonably strong fashion for them.

Xudash...
Great sentiment in wanting teams to rebuild and compete. However, even if all 10 are strong, someone (a few) have to be the bottom. Can't have everyone 10-8, 9-9, 8-10. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few years.
Of course adding the Billikens & Bonnies would raise the rest (JP Schmack), but we know that story.

gtmoBlue, you are probably one of my favorite message board posters out there, and yes, I think St. Louis makes sense, not because of their recent resume, but because of their history, the fact the school is completely behind the program and are putting money into it, and because it is Catholic and they represent a big city, BUT.....THE BONNIES?!?!?!?!?!?! Come on man!!!!!!! You are better than that.

[Edrick]

Their history? SLU has won five NCAA tournament games since 1952. They have only been in nine tournaments in the history of college basketball.

SLU is a joke.

They are barely different than adding Bradley.... See Bradley below.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... team1/5424

[Jet915]

Their history? SLU has won five NCAA tournament games since 1952. They have only been in nine tournaments in the history of college basketball.

SLU is a joke.

They are barely different than adding Bradley.... See Bradley below.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... team1/5424

I agree, except they are in St. Louis and provide a natural bridge to Creighton. Unfortunately, their basketball history is meh at best.

[EMT]

Their history? SLU has won five NCAA tournament games since 1952. They have only been in nine tournaments in the history of college basketball.

SLU is a joke.

They are barely different than adding Bradley.... See Bradley below.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... team1/5424

I agree, except they are in St. Louis and provide a natural bridge to Creighton. Unfortunately, their basketball history is meh at best.

Unless St. Louis is a bus ride for Creighton, it doesn't matter.

[ChestRockwell85]

Their history? SLU has won five NCAA tournament games since 1952. They have only been in nine tournaments in the history of college basketball.

SLU is a joke.

They are barely different than adding Bradley.... See Bradley below.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... team1/5424

Funny thing is after I posted that I checked out their Wikipedia page and was kind of shocked at their lack of history. To be honest for some reason I thought they were a team that was good back in the day that just faded in recent years. Boy was I wrong. I stand corrected.

I still can't figure out who the 11th team should be. I am honestly happy with the teams we have now. Think it is perfect until somebody really separates themselves.