(6) Saturday Big East Games 1/14/17

[JohnW22]

Question for Butler fans where has Joey Brunk been? Forgot about him but I know Butler beat Xavier out for him. Is he hurt?

They applied for a hardship redshirt so he could spend more time with his dad, who has brain tumor...
http://iuhealth.org/news-hub/detail/but ... Hr_dZK687A

Oh wow. Awful to hear. Hope everything turns out fine. Best wishes to that family

[JohnW22]

As I now have enough time to shake off the loss a bit I have to admit my favorite part of the game might have been the Butler fans behind me. They didn't know much even though they thought they did...referred to Martin as that #30 guy, said Fowler was probably some local kid Butler took cuz he was tall, said Brunson is really the only good one on Nova(we have those fans...no problem). They were very confused why everybody was booing somebody who hardly played and surprised he hardly played cuz they thought he was good last year(Myles Davis of course). I thought they were just being smart elics when they were saying what's so good about a substitution when we applauded Myles but quickly learned it was a legit quistion. All in all fun place to go to and watch a game. Weird game too as Baldwin and Sumner lead the way for both teams with 20+ but both having 0 at halftime(pretty sure Baldwin had 0). Andrew C. was a problem for Bluiett but I think the next go around they'll have Kaiser more prepared to guard him. Really see a lot of comparisons between this Xavier team and the 2015 one with going though long droughts on the road and not being able to win on the road. One thing for Xavier is Bluiett doesn't show up for big games it's been a 3 year thing now. If Xavier wants to make a run in the tournament they need Myles Davis and I know they're taking a short term step back right now but in the long run it will be the best thing for this team.

[jaxalum]

I'm an admitted pessimist, but as die hard of an X fan as you will find. I have not made it through an entire game in more than 10 years, as the nerves/anxiety become overwhelming, and I take walks, turn the channel for extended periods of time, or have several fainting spells.

Anyway, this three game stretch was/is pivotal. @ Nova, even though I believe our squads overall talent is pretty even, I was hoping to keep it respectable and lose by less than 400 pts....yes ......400 pts. I don't know what it is when we go to that place of evil, but there is some shifty business happenings, some sketchy Vodoo black magic shit. I believe that 100 yrs from now, we will be 0-105 at Satans abode.

I beleive Butler was our best chance at a truly signature road win. This could be a very special year for the Bulldogs. There resume is absolutely phenomenal already. I expect an absolute war at the Cintas.

Ive watched Creighton seveal times, and they have ALL the pieces. I really thought they were going to take down Nova. X plays great at home. We will need our A game to pull this one out. If we do, this bubble talk goes away. If not, even though everyone is saying we have all these chances, we have not proven that we can beat a top team. I think Clemson is our best win (on a neutral court). If we are defeated by those wacky blue birds, I will try to put myself into a self induced coma that will be scheduled to last up to the Conf tourney, because the pressure will increase exponentially every game after that, and the stress will destroy my physical and mental faculties to the point where I will, at best, be heavily medicated forever, drooling uncontrollably while I'm utilizing the Thorazine Shuffle for movement, but most likely, just instituionalized for a year or two, eating "casserole surprise" 6 days a week through an eating tube. Seriosly though, how do you beat Creighton?

One last thing, and it's such a cliche at this point...but this year by far, its dripping with truth....there are no easy wins, especially on the road, you can lose to anyone on any given day.

***********QUESTION*********** Say our preseason top four stay the course. I don't see 6 bids. Even 5 may be a struggle. Who, in your most humble of opinions, have the best chance to snag that 5th bid. Who would be the sixth team? Isnt Providence like 1-5 in conference right now, and they were favorites for a bid. YOUR OPINIONS WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED. THANKS

[jaxalum]

Question for Butler fans where has Joey Brunk been? Forgot about him but I know Butler beat Xavier out for him. Is he hurt?

They applied for a hardship redshirt so he could spend more time with his dad, who has brain tumor...
http://iuhealth.org/news-hub/detail/but ... Hr_dZK687A

Oh wow. Awful to hear. Hope everything turns out fine. Best wishes to that family

I second that. Prayers for he and his family. He was one of our top Center targets, if not the top, for that class. He had X scheduled for a visit right after Butler,but whatever you had on him for blackmail/extortion purposes obviously worked, as he committed on the trip I believe. He's a legit top 85 Center which are absolutely precious commodities. X has recruited every other position superbly the last few years, yet, we get so close on so many of these athletic type Centers, we ALWAYS end up the bridesmaid. We even had one on campus taking classes for 4 months, and that didnt work out.

[Bill Marsh]

I'm an admitted pessimist, but as die hard of an X fan as you will find. I have not made it through an entire game in more than 10 years, as the nerves/anxiety become overwhelming, and I take walks, turn the channel for extended periods of time, or have several fainting spells.

Anyway, this three game stretch was/is pivotal. @ Nova, even though I believe our squads overall talent is pretty even, I was hoping to keep it respectable and lose by less than 400 pts....yes ......400 pts. I don't know what it is when we go to that place of evil, but there is some shifty business happenings, some sketchy Vodoo black magic shit. I believe that 100 yrs from now, we will be 0-105 at Satans abode.

I beleive Butler was our best chance at a truly signature road win. This could be a very special year for the Bulldogs. There resume is absolutely phenomenal already. I expect an absolute war at the Cintas.

Ive watched Creighton seveal times, and they have ALL the pieces. I really thought they were going to take down Nova. X plays great at home. We will need our A game to pull this one out. If we do, this bubble talk goes away. If not, even though everyone is saying we have all these chances, we have not proven that we can beat a top team. I think Clemson is our best win (on a neutral court). If we are defeated by those wacky blue birds, I will try to put myself into a self induced coma that will be scheduled to last up to the Conf tourney, because the pressure will increase exponentially every game after that, and the stress will destroy my physical and mental faculties to the point where I will, at best, be heavily medicated forever, drooling uncontrollably while I'm utilizing the Thorazine Shuffle for movement, but most likely, just instituionalized for a year or two, eating "casserole surprise" 6 days a week through an eating tube. Seriosly though, how do you beat Creighton?

One last thing, and it's such a cliche at this point...but this year by far, its dripping with truth....there are no easy wins, especially on the road, you can lose to anyone on any given day.

***********QUESTION*********** Say our preseason top four stay the course. I don't see 6 bids. Even 5 may be a struggle. Who, in your most humble of opinions, have the best chance to snag that 5th bid. Who would be the sixth team? Isnt Providence like 1-5 in conference right now, and they were favorites for a bid. YOUR OPINIONS WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED. THANKS

Confession is good for the soul.

I agree with you that it's beginning to look like 5 bids will be a struggle. But that's based on what's happened so far, meaning that it will take an upset or two by one of the bubble teams to push themselves back into contention. Upsets happen every year.

It appears to me that the 2 strongest candidates for a 5th and 6th bids are Marquette and Seton Hall. They're close, but if I had to pick one, I like the experience of Seton Hall's starting 5 although I don't love their depth.

If we knew who'd win the games, there'd be no point in playing them. So, strap yourself in and enjoy the ride.

[Omaha1]

IMO Seton Hall had the only real chance of an at large after the Top 4 but the losses this week probably knock them out of the next bracket. Maybe Marquette can get on a roll and get a couple of big wins and be the fifth.

[Bill Marsh]

IMO Seton Hall had the only real chance of an at large after the Top 4 but the losses this week probably knock them out of the next bracket. Maybe Marquette can get on a roll and get a couple of big wins and be the fifth.

It's really hard to say, sitting here in mid January. Was SH favored in either of those games? Losing to good teams on the road is hardly a deal killer.

So much depends on what other bubble teams do, or whether SH comes back with any unanticipated upsets over the next 2 months. I know we think we know what's going to happen, but we really don't.

[gtmoBlue]

I'm an admitted pessimist, but as die hard of an X fan as you will find. I have not made it through an entire game in more than 10 years, as the nerves/anxiety become overwhelming, and I take walks, turn the channel for extended periods of time, or have several fainting spells.

Anyway, this three game stretch was/is pivotal. @ Nova, even though I believe our squads overall talent is pretty even, I was hoping to keep it respectable and lose by less than 400 pts....yes ......400 pts. I don't know what it is when we go to that place of evil, but there is some shifty business happenings, some sketchy Vodoo black magic shit. I believe that 100 yrs from now, we will be 0-105 at Satans abode.

I beleive Butler was our best chance at a truly signature road win. This could be a very special year for the Bulldogs. There resume is absolutely phenomenal already. I expect an absolute war at the Cintas.

Ive watched Creighton seveal times, and they have ALL the pieces. I really thought they were going to take down Nova. X plays great at home. We will need our A game to pull this one out. If we do, this bubble talk goes away. If not, even though everyone is saying we have all these chances, we have not proven that we can beat a top team. I think Clemson is our best win (on a neutral court). If we are defeated by those wacky blue birds, I will try to put myself into a self induced coma that will be scheduled to last up to the Conf tourney, because the pressure will increase exponentially every game after that, and the stress will destroy my physical and mental faculties to the point where I will, at best, be heavily medicated forever, drooling uncontrollably while I'm utilizing the Thorazine Shuffle for movement, but most likely, just instituionalized for a year or two, eating "casserole surprise" 6 days a week through an eating tube. Seriously though, how do you beat Creighton?

One last thing, and it's such a cliche at this point...but this year by far, its dripping with truth....there are no easy wins, especially on the road, you can lose to anyone on any given day.

***********QUESTION*********** Say our preseason top four stay the course. I don't see 6 bids. Even 5 may be a struggle. Who, in your most humble of opinions, have the best chance to snag that 5th bid. Who would be the sixth team? Isnt Providence like 1-5 in conference right now, and they were favorites for a bid. YOUR OPINIONS WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED. THANKS

Ans: SLOW THE GAME Down to a crawl, rebound like banshees, hit a decent percentage of your shots, and 38 fouls. Jays are middlin at the line.

PS: The Hall ain't done yet and are not "out of the running" for a bid. Lots of basketball left and as Mr. Marsh pointed out, they are an experienced team.

[Hall2012]

The problem for the Hall is that they just blew their best chances for a meaningful road win.

Last year's team played well on the road. So far this year's team looks lost.

[stever20]

the problem with Seton Hall is that they've now lost 2 of the 3 games on the road vs teams 5-8 that they will play(the Marquette, Seton Hall, PC, Georgetown group). They are now in a position where they're going to need at least 1-2 wins vs top 4 teams, while not having any unexpected losses.

Marquette has IMO a far better chance now.

the ODDS from RPI forecast after yesterday for the teams getting enough wins to make the tourney-
Seton Hall- 34.21%
Marquette- 58.09%
Georgetown- 17.11%
Providence- 5.46%

So I think Marquette has a good chance to make it. no lock by any stretch, but still a good chance.

I think quite frankly the odds of getting 6 are about the same as getting 4. I would say 4 teams- 10%, 5 teams- 80%, 6 teams- 10%. 5 teams by far the most likely. But if Seton Hall and Marquette stumble just a bit, both could easily get knocked out.