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@DurangoDoug posted:

Meanwhile Marquette is having a pretty good season. Wonder where they might go?

I have a hard time believing Marquette makes the Final Four.  There’s a couple things that will work against them.  They are not a good rebounding team at all. In addition, if they face a team that doesn’t turn it over much, you can get wide open 3’s against them.

Their strengths are that their PG and Center might be top 5 at their positions in pure passing ability.  When they are humming, their ball movement is excellent and they have a bunch of different ways to score on you.  Their defense overall isn’t great, but they are good at forcing turnovers and they play aggressive and hard.  That aggression can work against them though.

How did struggling Wisconsin beat them?  Wisconsin may not be overly talented but they are good at taking care of the ball and their front line guys are physical enough to take advantage of MU’s below average rebounding weakness.

I think MU will run into someone more talented than UW that doesn’t let them get easy buckets on turnovers and can dominate them on the glass. For their sake, they probably need to hope they don’t see that kind of team in the first 2 rounds or they might extend their drought of no sweet 16 visits since 2013.

Marquette’s had a great year, but they’ve also been a little lucky.  Both times they faced Xavier, the Musketeers were missing a key player due to injury, and also beat Creighton when they were short handed.

I am a rarity in that I grew up in Wisconsin rooting for both MU and UW whereas it seems most people only root for one of the 2 teams.  I hope Marquette does well but I could easily see them not getting to the 2nd weekend of the NCAAs even though I hope they will.

I grew up primarily a Marquette fan ( who living in Milwaukee in the 70’s wasn’t?) switched my β€œfavorite” to Wisconsin in the 90’s, but check both teams scores daily. Marquette making the tournament will take some of the sting out of the Badgers not. Also, in those rare years that Green Bay or Milwaukee make it in….I’m on cloud 9.

I have always been a fan of both, from the Scramled Egg days of Al thru the Bill Colfield years in Madison.   MU in the 70’s was top notch ball as were the Bo teams.  Lots of personalities in both programs.  Johnny Kotz from the 41 National Championship game was the speaker at my high school athletic banquet!  If you try snd do a top 10 Matquette player list you will find it to be pretty difficult.

Go Both !

@Blair Kiel posted:

I grew up primarily a Marquette fan ( who living in Milwaukee in the 70’s wasn’t?) switched my β€œfavorite” to Wisconsin in the 90’s, but check both teams scores daily. Marquette making the tournament will take some of the sting out of the Badgers not. Also, in those rare years that Green Bay or Milwaukee make it in….I’m on cloud 9.

It’s funny but there’s been times I rooted against Milwaukee.  Honestly, it was more out of jealousy than anything else.  I was at UW-Green Bay during most of the Dick/Tony Bennett years so UWGB fandom runs thru my veins.

I did root for UWM in 2003.  But I think by 2005 I was so pissed at how much UWGB had fallen off, I didn’t have the heart to root for either of of the 2005 or 2006 UWM teams that were excellent mid-major teams that did some damage in the NCAA tournament.

Then UWGB finally had some really good teams and the 2014 team was incredibly talented and won the conference.  But… UWM came in and upset UWGB in the conference tournament denying a really talented team a chance at the NCAA tournament.  I admittedly rooted hard against UWM as they lost to Villanova.

If UWM makes it this year, I probably couldn’t stomach rooting for them.  That all said, UW-Green Bay’s program has fallen so far, they legitimately may have to drop to Division III if they continue to screw up their coaching hires as badly as they have recently.  At least UWM appears to have a bright future no matter what happens to them this year.  That new coach has done a great job there so far.  I think UWM hit the jackpot sort of like they did with Bo Ryan and Bruce Pearl 20+ years ago.

@fightphoe93 posted:


I am a rarity in that I grew up in Wisconsin rooting for both MU and UW whereas it seems most people only root for one of the 2 teams.  I hope Marquette does well but I could easily see them not getting to the 2nd weekend of the NCAAs even though I hope they will.

I don't think it's that rare, I was always a Badger fan but pulled for Marquette when they didn't play the Badgers. I've always pulled for WI teams and I left WI 42 years ago. And I'm sure there are plenty more fans with the same story.

They left out a few names. Clyde Gaines was the PG and his son I think played at Louisville. Larry Petty, James "stretch" Gregory who was Claude's older brother and could have been a star if he had his head on straight. Ray Sydnor was a TE on the FB team that came over when 4 guys flunked out for a semester. A 6'1 guard like Mathews dunking was something nobody had ever seen before at the UW.

@PackerRick posted:

They left out a few names. Clyde Gaines was the PG and his son I think played at Louisville. Larry Petty, James "stretch" Gregory who was Claude's older brother and could have been a star if he had his head on straight. Ray Sydnor was a TE on the FB team that came over when 4 guys flunked out for a semester. A 6'1 guard like Mathews dunking was something nobody had ever seen before at the UW.

Larry Petty….best outlet passer ever.  Who said that?  Steve Yoder?

@PackerRick posted:

I don't think it's that rare, I was always a Badger fan but pulled for Marquette when they didn't play the Badgers. I've always pulled for WI teams and I left WI 42 years ago. And I'm sure there are plenty more fans with the same story.

MU gets their first ever outright conference championship tonite.  Looked real good too.

Last edited by Pikes Peak

Arizona State would be a tough draw for the Badgers but they have to get there first.  I don’t think the odds are great, but the selection committee will always lean toward mediocre big conference teams instead of decent mid majors because of the ratings.  

I think it would be better for UW to not make it so McIntosh is forced to make a tough decision on whether or not to keep Gard.   GG is a well liked guy (not unlike Paul Chryst) but at what point do you or could you expect better?   That’s the question.   Bo Ryan showed us what was possible in Madison.   There’s no reason with a decent coach - and more importantly a decent coach that can recruit - can’t make UW a consistent top 15 program again.  

Marquette is showing what a good hire can do.  Shaka Smart has come in and made an immediate impact.  With the portal and NIL there’s no reason it can’t also happen in Madison.  The UW job is 3x more appealing than Marquette and that’s not a diss on Marquette.  

If I’m Chris McIntosh I find a way to reach out to Jay Wright and see what it would take for him to run the UW program.   I’m sure there are other possibilities but he’d be at the top of my list.

Last edited by Tschmack

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