Three. It's a magic number. | The Boneyard

Three. It's a magic number.

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This is where I am. Not interested any more in polls or computer rankings until the regular season is over. This team has a conference regular season championship in its sights and needs to get it done. Beat ' Nova at home Saturday night and the worst case is we get a week off with the magic number being 2 with 3 to play.
 
If we beat Nova, there is a chance we can clinch the regular season crown by beating Seton Hall.

In between us playing Nova and then a week off before Seton Hall next Sunday, Marquette has the following games:

Home v Xavier
Home v Providence
@ Creighton

If they lose any of those games, our magic number would be down to 1 heading into the Seton Hall game. We have to take care of business against Nova.
 
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I'm still in the "I don't care about the Big East at all" camp. I want us to play well. That's all. I want us to win each game as we play it. If that means we collect some hardware, great.

But if we go one another five game losing streak and then win the NCAA tournament. It doesn't matter. Last year was a complete and total success because we won the last six games. Looking back, the BE stuff didn't mean squat. That's what college basketball is all about - the last six games.

It would kill me to lose a bunch of games. I'm a Huskies fan, alum and donor. I live and die every game. But as long as we have a chance to advance in the NCAA, I have hope.
 
Palatine said:
I'm still in the "I don't care about the Big East at all" camp. I want us to play well. That's all. I want us to win each game as we play it. If that means we collect some hardware, great.

But if we go one another five game losing streak and then win the NCAA tournament. It doesn't matter. Last year was a complete and total success because we won the last six games. Looking back, the BE stuff didn't mean squat. That's what college basketball is all about - the last six games.

It would kill me to lose a bunch of games. I'm a Huskies fan, alum and donor. I live and die every game. But as long as we have a chance to advance in the NCAA, I have hope.
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This is a good post. Although I value the BE regular season and the BE tournament titles, ultimately it's all about the NCAAT. Would it have been nice to beat Creighton on the road? Of course, but in losing they way they did, if it helps Hurley and his staff fix deficiencies that make them better for the NCAAT, I am all for it, give UConn the loss.

Even though UConn has some success winning it all after winning the BE tournament in 1999, 2004, and 2011, winning the BE tournament, or any conference tournament, doesn't necessarily carry over one bit. I have seen teams who are on Cloud 9 and the toast of the town after winning their conference tournament only to be eliminated either in the first or second round. There are many examples of this, but the ones that come to mind are Marquette last year and Villanova in 1995.
 
gsmooth said:
This is a good post. Although I value the BE regular season and the BE tournament titles, ultimately it's all about the NCAAT. Would it have been nice to beat Creighton on the road? Of course, but in losing they way they did, if it helps Hurley and his staff fix deficiencies that make them better for the NCAAT, I am all for it, give UConn the loss.

Even though UConn has some success winning it all after winning the BE tournament in 1999, 2004, and 2011, winning the BE tournament, or any conference tournament, doesn't necessarily carry over one bit. I have seen teams who are on Cloud 9 and the toast of the town after winning their conference tournament only to be eliminated either in the first or second round. There are many examples of this, but the ones that come to mind are Marquette last year and Villanova in 1995.
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Hopefully you're not a person who complains when people in the media don't put us on the level of Duke, Kentucky, UNC, Kansas.
 
I care about success in the Big East (regular season or tournament) to the extent that:
1) It gives us a good NCAA Tournament seed and the best prospects for success there
2) It keeps us relevant in the national picture in order to support recruiting

We have had some success in the Tournament and occasional hype (mostly currently) despite mediocre regular season performance over the last 15 years, but that's not a recipe for success in the long run.
 
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I don't understand this idea of not caring about the regular season. If we lose these games, it actually means we are not that good. It also means that our seeding will make it more difficult. Creighton game showed us that we can lose, and better seeding will give us a greater margin of error, or allow some bad luck.
 
I'd never say a season sucked because "we only won the natty" but, if it's on the table, I want to win it.
 
Palatine said:
I'm still in the "I don't care about the Big East at all" camp. I want us to play well. That's all. I want us to win each game as we play it. If that means we collect some hardware, great.

But if we go one another five game losing streak and then win the NCAA tournament. It doesn't matter. Last year was a complete and total success because we won the last six games. Looking back, the BE stuff didn't mean squat. That's what college basketball is all about - the last six games.

It would kill me to lose a bunch of games. I'm a Huskies fan, alum and donor. I live and die every game. But as long as we have a chance to advance in the NCAA, I have hope.
Expand ...
It matters because it's something out there that we can win. Every out of conference tournament matters, the regular season championship matters, and the Big East tournament matters. They are all opportunities. Now, I'm in 100% agreement with you I would rather have a national championship than any of those, great teams look to win every game, every tournament, every time. And looking to win every game is what puts you in a position to win the last game.
 
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Glenn said:
I don't understand this idea of not caring about the regular season. If we lose these games, it actually means we are not that good. It also means that our seeding will make it more difficult. Creighton game showed us that we can lose, and better seeding will give us a greater margin of error, or allow some bad luck.
Expand ...

Look at 2011. We were 9-9 in conference, in the second half of a 16 team Big East. Then we went on a tear won the BET and then won the NCAA. Pitt won the BE regular season. So?

Don't get me wrong. I want to win every game. Ultimately losing to Creighton means nothing. I want to see us play well but sometimes we don't. Eyes on the prize. That's why I don't care (maybe substitute I don't get excited) about the regular season all that much. To be fair, I care a little more about the BET but not much. I still want to beat Nova.
 
You know you're old when you accept that 'One' it the only number.
 
Palatine said:
I'm still in the "I don't care about the Big East at all" camp. I want us to play well. That's all. I want us to win each game as we play it. If that means we collect some hardware, great.

But if we go one another five game losing streak and then win the NCAA tournament. It doesn't matter. Last year was a complete and total success because we won the last six games. Looking back, the BE stuff didn't mean squat. That's what college basketball is all about - the last six games.

It would kill me to lose a bunch of games. I'm a Huskies fan, alum and donor. I live and die every game. But as long as we have a chance to advance in the NCAA, I have hope.
Expand ...
Conference championships mean a lot in a year when you don’t win a NCAA championship. It certainly does to the coaches and players. There is no other school in the country that assumes that because it has a realistic chance of winning a NCAA championship, you should assume you will and not focus on anything else.
 
Glenn said:
I don't understand this idea of not caring about the regular season. If we lose these games, it actually means we are not that good. It also means that our seeding will make it more difficult. Creighton game showed us that we can lose, and better seeding will give us a greater margin of error, or allow some bad luck.
Expand ...
The teams that won the NCAAT in 2011 and 2014 would disagree with proof on there side.
 
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Is winning the NCAA tournament far superior to a regular season/BET title, of course, no one is questioning that. Over time we're going to have more tournament success if we have dominant regular seasons and top seeding. It helps with every aspect of the program from recruiting, realignment, media, etc.
 
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