Two chances left...

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

Two chances left for a good non conference win. I think it's real important that we win either the New Mexico game or the Wisconsin game. Going into Big East play with no quality non conference wins would be bad news. It's not panic time, but if we lose those two it's panic time in my mind.

[kneelb4zerg]

No, it's not panic time if that happens. Come on now.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

When is it then?

[kneelb4zerg]

When is it then?

Let me ask you in reverse, would we be a lock if we managed to win tonight? Why would a neutral site win over SD st be some kind of silver bullet?

I guess Marquette fans can just panic whenever they want, who am I to say.

[warriorfan4life]

When is it then?

I would not say that it is panic time, but our chances of a good seed in the tourney would be kaput barring an unreal conference record/run to the end of the season. Still expect to win at least one of these two as long as Derrick is okay long-term.

[MUfan12]

Hate to say it, but I think Bucky wins by double digits. Too many shooters.

They'll beat New Mexico.

[warriorfan4life]

Hate to say it, but I think Bucky wins by double digits. Too many shooters.

They'll beat New Mexico.

I think our length on the perimeter will significantly disrupt their offensive flow, and they do not have a guy that can create and then kick the ball out for open looks. Carson and Marshall on ASU shredded us from the perimeter, but that was in large part because one of them (primarily Carson) got into the lane first. I think Bucky will swing it around the perimeter and have to take contested shots over us. Also, Buzz normally has something up his sleeve against Bo, and I think he will unleash it Saturday. We need this game badly, they are coming undefeated/with one loss (predict they beat UVA is peach basket bowl on Tuesday), and hopefully our guys can channel that desperation into positive energy.

[TedBaxter]

Without a quality non-conference win, MU will have to finish 1st or 2nd in the Big East.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

Let me ask you in reverse, would we be a lock if we managed to win tonight? Why would a neutral site win over SD st be some kind of silver bullet?

I guess Marquette fans can just panic whenever they want, who am I to say.

I never said I was panicking now... I also never said that SDSU was the "silver bullet"... What they were however was a chance at a quality non conference win. Let's face it, we have had 3 chances at quality wins so far and have lost all three, we have two left. Whether you want to admit it or not who you beat in non conference is a big deal. I never said we will lose both, I just said those games take on a lot more importance now. Also i stated if we lose them both I will be panicking, I said that because that would likely mean we enter conference with 0 quality wins and with the new big east it won't carry as much clout this year as it previously has.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Honestly, this is my issue with Marquette's scheduling this year. You don't need the headline win if you stack your buy games with 150-250 ranked teams. You just need a few to come through and compete for their conference title. Mike Broeker does a great job, but I'd be a much bigger fan of a more balanced schedule. It seems when we have cream at the top, there's a ton of crap at the bottom. I would kill for a schedule like Wisconsin set up this year. Not sure if they are changing their non-con scheduling philosophy, but their slate is a thing of absolute beauty.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

I don't see the schedule as an issue, 5 chances at a good win is a good amount, the team just needs to capitalize on those chances. He didn't schedule a bunch of top 10 teams to come in... We play UW every year, and when you get a chance to have a team like Ohio St. come to your gym it's hard to say no. Other than that New Mexico and Arizona St. are the only two he scheduled and those aren't exactly great teams, they should be middle of the road when it comes to high major teams this year.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

I'm not saying that it's too many tough opponents. It's having the bottom of the barrel buy games that irks me. Those games drag down your RPI as much or more than a good loss does, and when you do end up losing games like we have been, it turns your entire non-con schedule into an RPI drain. With the reconstruction of the Big East, scheduling became even more important. I think we do a great job of getting quality opponents at the high end, but going forward we need to do even more to get quality opponents in the meat of the non-con schedule because we don't have the leeway we used to.

[MUfan12]

Two neutral court wins will help. A win against UW or NM will help. They'll pick up 5 road wins in conference play.

The three losses were tough in their own way. But the RPI isn't much of a concern at this point if they win games.

[Markedman]

The Fullerton win will count as a road win I think

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

The Fullerton win will count as a road win I think

Fullerton is a road win, and GW could very well be a quality neutral court win.