We tend to get get myopic on this board (for legitimate reasons), so I wanted to take a closer, deeper look at some of the other conferences. The one that really stands out to me this year is the Big East. Top to bottom, those teams are a really tough out. And, to betterer’s point, the play VERY physical on defense (and the ref’s don’t seem to call many ticky-tack fouls). I think the EIGHTH lowest NET ranked team in that conference is Creighton, with a NET of 67 or so (and possibly much higher if they knock off Marquette today, they are in a dogfight).
And Creighton did take down Marquette 83-82. Big East is a conference with solid basketball roots with fans who support their teams. Unlike the WCC where fan attendance is sparse except for Gonzaga, BYU, SMC and USF… I’m sure most of the players on SCU’s mbb team played to larger crowds in high school compared to our fan attendance at Leavey. Just saying…
Well, helps when you’re actually playing for tournament bids against tournament teams. MU blew it as much as Creighton won it.
The larger point regarding attendance…I love Milwaukee and have lived there and many family are Marquette alums but there is not much to do in MKE (or Providence or Omaha) between November and March outdoors.
all in all, success breeds success.
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