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While the disappointment of laying an egg in the Elite 8 against Syracuse still lingers, the future remains extremely bright for a Marquette program coming off their third straight trip to the Sweet 16. Assuming Buzz Williams returns for his sixth season and the incoming recruiting class remains in tact, the Golden Eagles should be even better in 2013-14.
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For the third straight season, Marquette basketball has advanced to the Sweet 16. Ohio State, Kansas, and Florida are the only other programs that share that distinction. Unlike the Buckeyes, Jayhawks, and Gators though, the Golden Eagles have been unable to take the next step and get to the Elite 8. Thursday night versus Miami FL, MU will try to pass the test and get over the hump.
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Welcome to The Sports Bank’s third annual college basketball season preview series. Two years we looked at 99 teams in 99 days. Last year, we were slightly more aggressive and expanded to 111 teams in 111 days and will do so again as we look ahead to the 2012-2013 season.
We will rank the 75 power conference teams and top 36 mid-majors in reverse power ranking order. We’ll break down rosters, transfers, incoming freshmen, non-conference schedules, and pick a player to watch for each team.
WARNING: As a Marquette alum and obsessive Golden Eagle basketball fan, this is going to take my lengthy, in-depth, nerdy previews to a whole new level. If I were you, I would clear out ten minutes of your schedule before beginning to read this.
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Due to the transfer of Jamail Jones and Aaron Durley not coming to Milwaukee next season, Buzz Williams and the Marquette Golden Eagles had two open scholarships for next season. Only one remains now as Arizona State transfer Trent Lockett tweeted that he will be finishing his college career at MU.
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For the second straight season, Marquette has reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. While last year’s run was somewhat unexpected as an 11 seed, this year’s Golden Eagles were expected to do some damage as the third seed in the West Regional. Thursday evening in Albuquerque, Buzz Williams‘ team will match up with Billy Donovan and the seventh seeded Florida Gators with a trip to the Elite 8 on the line.
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Marquette head coach Buzz Williams is a fiery head coach. There is no debating that. However, Williams took his emotion to a whole new level after the Golden Eagles‘ win at West Virginia Friday night when he did a little dance across the Mountaineers mid-court to John Denver‘s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” that nearly caused a riot among the WVU student section.
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It really comes as no surprise, but as first reported by CBS Sports, Marquette center Chris Otule will undergo surgery Tuesday on his injured ACL and miss the remainder of the season.
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This is more than just my annual “over-reaction to a Marquette loss” article. It just so happens that the timing of this comes after an embarrassing 74-57 defeat at the hands of Vanderbilt in which the score doesn’t accurately depict how big of a blow-out it actually was.
Now prior to the season if you would have told me that the Golden Eagles would finish 11-2 in their non-conference slate, I would have happily taken it without a second thought. However, after ten straight wins to start the season there is now reason for concern as Marquette enters Big East play having lost two of their last three.
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I’m obviously biased, but I think Marquette–Wisconsin is one of the best non-conference college basketball rivalries in the country. The two fan bases pretty much despise one another and the past few years, it always seems to be a battle of Top 25 teams and a hard fought, down-to-the wire game. Saturday afternoon, the 118th all-time meeting between the two schools takes place at the Kohl Center with both teams looking to add a signature win to their resume. Here is a super nerdy, in-depth breakdown of Saturday’s game.
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Welcome to The Sports Bank’s second annual college basketball season preview series. Last year we looked at 99 teams in 99 days. This year, we are being slightly more aggressive and expanding to 111 teams in 111 days. We will rank the 74 power conference teams and top 37 mid-majors in reverse power ranking order. We’ll break down rosters, non-conference schedules, and pick a player to watch for each team.
WARNING: As a Marquette alum and obsessive Golden Eagles basketball fan, this is going to take my lengthy, in-depth, nerdy previews to a whole new level. If I were you, I would clear out ten minutes of your schedule before beginning to read this.
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Buzz isn’t going anywhere. Marquette announced today that the university and head coach Buzz Williams have agreed to a contract extension that is believed to pay him in the ballpark of around $2 million per year.
By: David Kay
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Rather than dwell on the embarrassment that was Marquette’s Sweet 16 performance against North Carolina, I prefer to take the glass half-full approach and look ahead to next season. Since it looks like Buzz Williams will not be fleeing the Brew City for Oklahoma, Missouri, or any of the other rumored coaching vacancies that his name has been linked to in the past couple weeks, the Golden Eagles only have to replace three seniors; Jimmy Butler, Dwight Buycks, and Joe Fulce. (I guess four if you count Rob Frozena.) Here is a look at how the 2011-2012 Marquette roster is shaping up and what I like and the role I would like to see each player have next season.
By: David Kay
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