One thing is certain, Marquette has loaded up on a feast of cupcakes and it's not even Thanksgiving yet. The current strength of schedule for our Golden Eagles stands at 345th in the nation. There are only two schools in the nation that have had an easier schedule than MU thus far - Gardener Webb and South Carolina State. Up next...South Dakota...ranked 324th in the nation. There is little doubt that after Tuesday night, MU will have the weakest schedule in the nation. (side note...before our Wisconsin-madison fans get too excited, their schedule strength is 330th).
So is this a bad thing? No one knows just yet. MU lost three essential players and are young everywhere with the exception of Jimmy Butler and Lazar Hayward. A soft schedule to start the season made a lot of sense to get the team off on a good foot. On the other hand, Thursday will be a huge surprise for this young team as they will play a game that looks nothing like any other they've played thus far.
That night MU will take on Xavier, currently 12th in the power rankings. To date, MU's toughest foe has been 296th - the squad from Maryland Eastern Shore.
This begs the question...how good are we? Honestly, I don't know how anyone can tell considering the competition we've played thus far. This weekend MU will finally find out as they are likely to play multiple games against top 100 clubs.
Plenty to learn and observe this holiday week.
This schedule is garbage unbecoming a Division 1 power. No self-respecting Big East team would play a schedule like this. Sure, we get some wins, but at what costs? If we're playing a major D-1 school, we may get beat but we know what we have and we know what we need to do for the Big East schedule.
ReplyDeleteBesides, foisting this crap on the Bradley Center fanbase is repugnent. I just simply won't go until Marquette begins to play someone worthy of its program (aka, January).