So, the regular season for Marquette is over. That means the Golden Eagles are done with the gauntlet we were all pointing towards since December. Many MU fans are breathing a sigh of relief because of that.
It wasn't that Buzz Williams' kids got run out of the gym. They lost their floor leader in Dominic James. As a result, they lost some (okay, a lot) of the swagger they built up during the first two months of Big East play. And even though they lost James they refused to go down without a fight.
The final score might have told you otherwise, but the Golden Eagles gave UCONN everything they could handle and then some. Marquette went to Louisville and put a good scare into one of the hottest teams in the nation. And they battled a tough Pittsburgh team on their own home floor. They ran out of gas, but they still gave Pitt fits. Probably more than they had a right to on paper, considering how dominant the Panthers are on their own floor.
Granted, the loss to Syracuse last Saturday on Senior Day is a little tough to swallow, but there are a couple of things you should remember. The game went to overtime, and Syracuse isn't a bad team by any stretch. They are a solid Top 25 team with a couple of dynamic players in Jonny Flynn and Paul Harris that would (and do) give any team in the country their share of problems.
MU finished the gauntlet with a 1-4 record. If you read what some of the columnists had to say, if you listened to what some of the radio guys had to say, you would have thought the Golden Eagles finished at 6-24 (Tom Crean's record at Indiana) not the 23-8 mark they compiled in Williams' first regular season. If you listen to some of the talk around town, this team won't even win a game in the upcoming Big East or NCAA tournaments.
To that, all I can say is now is not the time to jump ship. I'm not going to sit here and tell you this team can win the Big East Tournament. I'm not even going to tell you this team can reach The Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA's. But, I also don't think the season is over. Not by any stretch.
The Golden Eagles will play the winner of today's game between St. John's and Georgetown tomorrow afternoon. Expect their opponent to be the Hoyas (the Red Storm are just not that good). That would be the third time MU and GU have matched up. This isn't the same Georgetown team we've seen over the last couple of years. Jeff Green hasn't walked through their locker room door in a couple of years. Roy Hibbert isn't coming back either. Marquette already has two wins over the Hoyas and I would expect they get their third win over John Thompson III and company again tomorrow afternoon.
After that, I wouldn't expect MU to beat Villanova, Louisville, and either Pitt or UCONN in the quarterfinals, semis and finals. But, I do expect them to get a win tomorrow afternoon.
Then it's on to the NCAA's. I'm not expecting the selection committee to be kind to the Golden Eagles. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you saw MU seeded as low as a 6 or a 7. The James injury is going to have an effect on their seeding (history suggests that injuries do have an affect on seeding - just talk to Bob Huggins about his Cincinnati team nine years ago, after they were dropped out of a one seed because of Kenyon Martin's injury).
But I also wouldn't be surprised if the Golden Eagles win at least one game in The Big Dance. You see, with James in the lineup, MU is a threat to any team in the country. With James on the shelf, MU drops one tier. They go from being a really good team (with the potential to be elite) to being a good team. And being a good team should be enough to beat the likes of Michigan, Florida, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, St. Mary's, Miami, Arizona, and Penn State - all teams they could face in the first round of the tournament (if you believe the projections).
Sure, going 1-4 to finish the regular season isn't what anyone had in mind. It wasn't the way Coach Williams drew it up. But, they did lose games to three teams that are in the running for number one seeds, and a fourth team that has the ability to play with anyone in the country on any given night. Had they gone 1-4 with James in the lineup, I could understand the panic that seems to exist. But that wasn't the case.
The season is not over. Not that anyone should be making hotel reservations for Detroit just yet. But this isn't the time to wave the white flag. It's not the time to panic. And, if I'm saying it isn't time to panic, then you should listen.
Are you a fan of conference tournaments? Listen to my podcast and find out why I've 'come around.'
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