Sun 3/2, Marquette (9-6) at #8 Villanova (13-2), 2pm CBS.

[mpwalsh8]

Home court advantage is home court advantage. Even NBA teams whose opponents come to town multiple times per year don't lose hoe court advantage when their opponents have increased exposure to the court. It's reflected in their records.

I think the difference with the BET is while it is on St. John's home floor, it isn't necessarily a home crowd SJU. The tickets are doled out to 10 schools and some schools will be well represented and some won't. Tickets must still be available because they're advertising them on FS1 so the general public can buy them. But the general public won't necessarily be rooting for St. John's. Many of the BE schools have a large population of alumni in NYC so while I would expect St. John's to have a larger crowd than most schools, it won't be a true home crowd for SJU like your NBA reference.

[GumbyDamnit!]

Villanova has won 8 in a row against St. John's at the garden.

So much for home court advantage, huh BillM?

[Bill Marsh]

Villanova has won 8 in a row against St. John's at the garden.

So much for home court advantage, huh BillM?

Uhh . . .

Did you seriously expect that home court advantage to enable a crap team to beat a perennial power house? The only season when St. John's had a good team in that stretch was in 2010-11 when the two LF them didn't play a game in the Garden that year. Interestingly, St. John's did beat Villanova in their only matchup that season, but it was in Philadelphia. St. John's won that game by 13, so in all likelihood they would have won a game at the Garden that year if there had been one.

Home court advantage is worth a few points. It makes a difference in close games, but it's not going to set the natural order of the universe.

[Westbrook36]

You learn something new everyday, never knew you could lose 8 straight home games to an opponent at the same venue, yet still be considered to have a formidable advantage in that said venue.

BTW if Georgetown reaches the Semi-finals in the BE tourney it will be their 5th game in MSG this year, again I'd say they're pretty damn familiar with MSG. If Nova reaches the SF it will be their 3rd game in MSG this year, say 3 more next year at least, the year after we play Cuse in MSG so if we reach the BE SF that year it will be our 4th game in MSG(not counting 7/10, 8/9 games or BE tourney finals) so that's at least 10 games in a 3 year period. Again, besides the Pavilion or WFC, there is no place Nova is more at home at then at MSG.

[Bill Marsh]

You learn something new everyday, never knew you could lose 8 straight home games to an opponent at the same venue, yet still be considered to have a formidable advantage in that said venue.

BTW if Georgetown reaches the Semi-finals in the BE tourney it will be their 5th game in MSG this year, again I'd say they're pretty damn familiar with MSG. If Nova reaches the SF it will be their 3rd game in MSG this year, say 3 more next year at least, the year after we play Cuse in MSG so if we reach the BE SF that year it will be our 4th game in MSG(not counting 7/10, 8/9 games or BE tourney finals) so that's at least 10 games in a 3 year period. Again, besides the Pavilion or WFC, there is no place Nova is more at home at then at MSG.

Why are you being a wise ass? "Formidable advantage"? Who said that?

[SJHooper]

I remember watching the 2011 game vs. Nova at MSG. Spanked Nova so hard I could hear the whining all the way from Philly. When SJ has good teams they play Nova very tough. I wouldn't put too much stock into their streak like someone else just said, as SJ has been a terrible program for most of the past 25 years. SJ was consistently a mediocre to bad Big East team and Nova was often ranked. So no crap. It appears SJ is on the upswing as a program even though we won't make the tourney this year. Just getting good recruits here is still something that hasn't happened in a while. If I'm a Nova fan and Nova draws SJ in the BET, I'm nervous. This is not one of those years SJ is going to lay down for them. I still think we are 1 rock solid pure shooter away from being a ranked team. Nova has like 5 guys who can hit from outside. We have 1 and on a lucky day 2. They also bang down low. We need bigger bodies down there...Sampson is decent but he's too skinny. Think about the old Big East guys like Dixon on Pitt...big bodied,muscular guys to get gritty in the paint. We need that.

I hope Nova wins to bring us closer to tying or passing Marquette. Wouldn't be surprised if Marquette won either. Marquette and Seton Hall sure love to play spoiler.

By the way, I read the home court advantage debate, and you guys left this out: it's NOT just fans that make it an advantage. It's familiarity with the court. Hoops play differently in different venues. In Carnesecca the rims are bricks. If it's not a perfect swish, it's bouncing 5 feet off the rim. At MSG they are more forgiving and softer. I think this is part of the reason we play better at MSG. Just the fact that other teams are in an unfamiliar environment can give them more anxiety than being at home. Forget the fans. Now I don't expect SJ to make the tourney or do well in the BET, but there definitely is at least a slight advantage.

[GumbyDamnit!]

I hope Nova wins to bring us closer to tying or passing Marquette. Wouldn't be surprised if Marquette won either.

Um... how about a wager? I'll give you Marquette and 16 pts.