"My rule was I wouldn't recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house.
That's not my world. My world was a cracked sidewalk." —Al McGuire

Friday, November 09, 2007

CS Team Predictions 2007-08

Here are the Cracked Sidewalks predictions for this upcoming season:

GameHilltopperNYWarriormuwarrior92MU84
IUPUI WWWW
Utah Valley State WWWW
MU vs. ChaminadeWWWW
MU vs. LSU/OklahomaWWLW
MU vs. Duke?WWWW
UW-Milwaukee WWWW
@UW-Madison Badgers LLLL
Sacramento State WWWW
IPFW WWWW
Coppin State Eagles WWWW
Savannah State WWWW
PCWWWW
@West Virginia LLLW
Seton Hall WWWW
Notre Dame WWWW
@Louisville LLLL
@UConn LLWW
DePaul WWWW
South Florida WWWW
@Cincinnati WWWW
Louisville LWWL
@Notre Dame LLLL
@Seton Hall WWWW
Pitt WWWW
@St. Johns WWWW
Rutgers WWWW
@Villanova LWLW
Georgetown WLWW
FL Gulf Coast OOCWWWW
@Syracuse LLLL
BE Record:11-712-613-514-4
Total Record22-823-723-725-5

Hilltopper Comments: I realize my predictions were the most "pessimistic." Don't get me wrong, Marquette is a great team, and will do very well this year. They are roughly the same team from last year, with 3 great Sophomores who are now Juniors, plus Mo, plus Lazar getting better every minute.

But. The Big East will be better this year too. Road wins will be tougher to get, even with 9 chances. I knocked off one win for the troubling first half performance vs. NSU on Sunday. -- People say "it's early." Not as early as you'd think. -- This team has played 7 games now, 4 in Vancouver, 2 vs. KSU, plus NSU. Sure, MU turned it "on" in the 2nd half of NSU, but the slow start, missed layups, missed jumpers, missed FTs.. in the first half caught my attention. The team still has weak spots, and we're going to be frustrated from time to time. 22-8 is still a great BE record.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not a single quality road win all year?

Remember that this same team beat Pitt in their 'zoo' or whatever its called and also beat Louisville and Uconn on the road inside the same 12 day period. Arguable the 3 toughest places to play in the BE outside the Bradley Center.

I think they will face hostility better than you give credit for.

Kevin Buckley said...

I'd agree with that. MU had some great road wins last year.

THis year, they will win some games they shouldn't win, and lose some games they shouldn't lose.

But if I have to guess, and I have to, right now, I'm not marking down a win @UL, @UW, @UConn, @SU, @ND.

Would I bet we win 1 or 2 of those 5? Sure. But which one, I know not.

And which game are we going to lose which we should not lose? @SJU? @Cincy or @SHU? Maybe ND at home? .. I'll bet we lose 1 of those.

Anonymous said...

I predict 30-0 and then going 6-0 in the NCAA tournament.

Anonymous said...

I'm right in the middle at 23-7, 12-6 in the Big East. I think Mbakwe's loss will cost us 2-3 games (@Wisconsin and a couple in the Big East).

Still, I would not worry too much about a preseason game. Plus, you have to remember that the team had just learned the Mbakwe news a couple of days before, and it definitely could have been playing on their minds.

Anonymous said...

I believe MU will have a very good to great year if it can avoid any substantial (3 or more games)losing streak; particularly late in the year. If the team can secure a top 4 seed for the Big Dance, it will avoid its recent history of early exits. I think it is going to be a fun year and the beginning of bigger and better things for MU basketball.

Signed,

Epstein's Mother

Anonymous said...

Lose to West Virginia....Get Real. John Beilein isn't walking through that door to run the right offense with those players.

BlackandGreen said...

Great to see someone else gave ND a Top 5 Big East ranking! I put Marquette in the #3 slot as well.

The two games between the teams this year will be fun to watch.

Bill said...

I hope MU has a solid year but the guy who predicted 14-4 is nuts. Come on. I think the relevant over/under in conference is ten wins. If I were you guys I wouldn't be able to sleep at night b/c I'd have nightmares of DJ hoisting 20 shots a night to try and prove to NBA scouts that he belongs.

Anonymous said...

I think the concerns with James would be overblown, as he really seems ready to have a complete season (and it's not like he was that bad last season outside of his shooting struggles). Also, 10 would be too low for an over/under, as that's the absolute worst I can see Marquette realistically doing. I think 12 would be an excellent over-under number, with the likely range being 10-14 conference victories.

John Cocktoastan said...

I think we will beat ND in their house, otherwise the predictions seem pretty realistic. We also always play Louisville tough (God, I hate Rick Pitino), we have a shot at beating them in their house (again).

We will have some home losses that we should not lose. It's hard to predict those.

I'm hoping for a very solid season and maybe a 4-5 seed in the Big Dance!