rjsuperfly66 wrote:I don't know if I would call them overrated, although I do think they overachieved. I mean I guess it can be called overrated (in terms of tourney seeding), but I never thought those teams were that great from the start.
Do you know what Marquette, Georgetown, and Villanova's ranking was preseason?
34, 38, and no votes. And their preseason BE prediction? 7, 5, and 12.
Each team brought in a core of good players, but young teams. In a good year, those teams probably stay unranked, I didn't think they were that good, but NCAA was down as a whole and they were able to play well enough to sneak up the ladder, and then each team became exposed. Going into next year, Gtown will return everyone but Otto Porter who about 99% goes pro. Marquette returns most of their core as well.
Who is going to sit and deny that the best teams are gone? It's an undeniable fact. I'm not going to sit here and try to justify it like Ramster is with Xavier with BS. I think people get that confused when we say the C7 split was the best option on the table.
Fly,
You can refer to my comments about Xavier as BS - it's a message board and there is a lot of BS on message boards.
No doubt Xavier is a loss for the A10, but I don't think as big a loss to the A10 or as big a gain to the Catholic 7 BE as some believe.
Reasons:
Chris Mack is no Sean Miller. Miller took Xavier's best player with him to Arizona, Mark Lyons, who then became Arizona's best player and high scorer this year (Miller also grabbed TJ McConnell from the A10 - he will be the starting PG for Arizona next year). Miller is a great Coach and an even better recruiter - a big loss for Xavier. Maryland then grabbed Xavier's best player last year, Dez Wells, who then became Maryland's best player and high scorer this year. Mack lost his two best players. Mack has not recruited like Xavier Teams of the past. So we can look at the past of look to what Xavier's present and future under mack likely looks.
Xavier was picked 9th in the A10 in Coaches preseason poll, so they actually exceeded expectations.
Butler was picked 6th in the preseason poll and exceeded.
Losing Xavier hurts the A10 but this has been rumored for years - so they move on.
Butler was a one night stand. They see the grass greener or the money greener in the C7 BE. They were not with the A10 long enough to be missed. Why they are going to the 9 team Catholic School League and not be Catholic surprises me on both sides - does not make sense and therefore may not be long lasting.
The C7 BE is not near the level of the old BE. Only 2 players in the Top 50 going to the new C7 and both to Marquette. Used to be the BE would nab a dozen of the Top 50. 4 of the C7-BE Teams wre strike outs. I am sure they all think that the new publicity and TV package will change all that - or else why more, right?
But with so many games on TV or Streamed for free or for relatively low cost, the advantage of a FOX TV Package has greatly diminished from years past. If I were a fan of any of these Schools I might think differently, but to the average basketball fan which matchups of these teams appeals me to change the channel to watch? Marquette maybe the marquis team but they just set the record for boredom and fewest points in the NCAA since the shot clock with 39 points???
Sorted by Recruiting this year so far...........first number is predicted finish next year, PC could go higher if Ledo plays.
1. Marquette (20-6) with #26, #49 and #55 ESPN recruits coming in
3. Villanova (20-14) with #59 and # 91 ESPN recruits
8. PC (19-15) with #56 ESPN recruit
2. Georgetown (25-7) with #63 ESPN recruit - then will lose to a 15th seed in the NCAA Tournament
6. Xavier (17-14) with #89 ESPN recruit
9. Depaul (11-21) with #90 ESPN recruit
4. St Johns (17-16) No ESPN recruits
5. Butler (27-9) No ESPN recruits
7. Creighton (28-8) No ESPN recruits
10. Seton Hall (15-18) No ESPN recruits