Marquette Win Puts Pressure On Leaders
February 26, 2008 11:32 am by Coach OMarquette’s victory over Nova last night put pressure on the four teams ahead of them working for a bye in New York in two weeks. The Eagles can now finish 13-5 with wins in their last two games against Georgetown and at Syracuse. With the Hoyas looking more and more vulnerable, this is entirely possible with Marquette on a 5 game roll, winning handily in each. Let’s take a look at the leaders and their prospects for a bye.
Georgetown - The Hoyas are 12-3 and finish with St. John’s, at Marquette and Louisville. If the Hoyas were to lose to Marquette and Louisville they would end up 13-5 and lose a tiebreaker to both teams. Two wins would assure the Hoyas of a bye. Even though GTown is in a good position, they have to be careful of a letdown and must defeat either Marquette or Louisville to enter the BET with some momentum.
Louisville - The Cards are 12-3 and finish with home games against Notre Dame and Villanova along with a final game at Georgetown. Although the Cards should win both home games, ND is capable of an upset. If the Cards lose to ND and GTown they will end up with a record of 13-5 and lose tiebreakers to the Irish and UConn. Louisville has two wins over Marquette and a win over Georgetown. If the Cardinals win two of the last three they will secure a bye.
Notre Dame - The Irish are 11-3 and have three of the final four games on the road. Although they have been unbeatable at home, they have shown some vulnerability away. With splits against UConn and Marquette, the Irish lose tiebreaker vs. Georgetown and still have to travel to Louisville this Thursday. The game at DePaul is not a gimme, seeing that it is a rivalry game. ND should beat St. John’s at home and USF away. If the Irish split their remaining four games they will end up 13-5. A Marquette victory over Georgetown might force the Irish to play a Wednesday game.
UConn - The Huskies are 10-4 and suffered a crucial loss at Nova on Saturday. Remaining games are at Rutgers tonight, West Virginia Saturday and at Providence and home to Cincinnati next week. The Huskies must win 3 of the last 4 to put themselves in a good position at 13-5. UConn has trouble with Providence and West Virginia is still a mystery team. Two losses will probably push UConn to a Wednesday game. The Huskies lose a tiebreaker to Georgetown and win tiebreakers vs. Louisville and Marquette. The UConn-ND tiebreaker will be determined by the Irish game vs. Louisville this Thursday.
****UPDATE***** In checking all possibilities, if Marquette were to lose one of their final two league games, UConn and ND would have to win 2 of their remaining four games to receive a bye.
Complicated???? Not really…… Typical???? You bet….. WELCOME TO THE BIG EAST!
Categories: Commentary, Georgetown, Connecticut, Notre Dame, Marquette, Louisville, Coach O, Postseason
4 Responses to “Marquette Win Puts Pressure On Leaders”
Very good analysis on the remaining games for the top four teams. However I think you needed to add the fifth team in the mix. Marquette. They have two remaining big East games. Georgetown at home and Syracuse away. Both of which will be hard games. I don’t see them winning both of these games going out which takes the pressure off the top four teams.
Right now even though they sit in the #5 spot, they control the mix. If they lose one, ND needs to win two and UConn one to get the byes.
Although they have a tough one with GTown at home, they are, along with Louisville the hottest team in the Big East right now.
Absolutely Marq. should be included. There was a stretch early in the BE schedule when they struggled, and they’ve played a bit under the radar since, particularly from the national perspective.
Oddly, it might be G-Town who is most vulnerable now. Their schedule lends itself to a sudden drop to 5th more than the others.
I agree totally….. Georgetown wins but if they get behind to Marquette or Louisville they find it harder than any of the other teams to play catchup. The Georgetown-Marquette game on Saturday should go far in determining the 4 byes. GTown-Louisville will probably be for the title if the Hoyas can beat the Eagles. Although SU is always tough at home, Marquette is going to go into the dome on a serious mission if they are successful vs. the Hoyas. Five teams…… four byes……. interesting!
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