Weekend of 2/15 and 2/16, 4 Gs (DeP-PC, X-MU, V-CU, GU-SJ).

[Xudash]

I think Xavier is in trouble.

That was the conventional wisdom going into the home game against Providence. Then Xavier beat Providence and blew away Butler on their home floor.

It was a road game with a terrible start and way too many turnovers and open "3" looks for Marquette, yet Xavier clawed back and had a chance at the end.

I certainly didn't like how they started and the turnovers were stupid in most cases, but it's the kind of thing Mack continues to tighten up as a season goes by. We're tied for 3rd with obviously key games against DePaul at home and Georgetown away coming up. Overall, we all have to grind our way through the balance of the conference schedule. I like Xavier's chances as well.

[hoyahooligan]

Gardner flops a lot

Duke of the Big East. It's why I do not like Marquette. Crowder was the king of it. Gardner is like 300lbs and flops all the time. Pathetic.

[GoldenBat]

Gardner flops a lot

Duke of the Big East. It's why I do not like Marquette. Crowder was the king of it. Gardner is like 300lbs and flops all the time. Pathetic.

No worries. You're the type that ensures nobody like Georgetown.

[MUBoxer]

Gardner flops a lot

Duke of the Big East. It's why I do not like Marquette. Crowder was the king of it. Gardner is like 300lbs and flops all the time. Pathetic.

No worries. You're the type that ensures nobody like Georgetown.

Lmao it's so true to!

[stever20]

I think Xavier is in trouble.

That was the conventional wisdom going into the home game against Providence. Then Xavier beat Providence and blew away Butler on their home floor.

It was a road game with a terrible start and way too many turnovers and open "3" looks for Marquette, yet Xavier clawed back and had a chance at the end.

I certainly didn't like how they started and the turnovers were stupid in most cases, but it's the kind of thing Mack continues to tighten up as a season goes by. We're tied for 3rd with obviously key games against DePaul at home and Georgetown away coming up. Overall, we all have to grind our way through the balance of the conference schedule. I like Xavier's chances as well.

Xavier must go 2-1 their next 3 games to not have to beat either Creighton or Villanova- vs DePaul, Georgetown, and St John's. If they go 1-2, they almost definitely must win one of those 2 games. I don't know how Xavier at 19-12 would look to the committee(and remember, they would be 18-12 as the Abilene Christian game doesn't count). 18-13 if they lost 1st rd of the BET would be a lot for a team with 1 top 25 win. And if they've gone 2-4 down the stretch, they could be looking at a 6 or even 7 seed in the BET.

[Bill Marsh]

Gardner flops a lot

Duke of the Big East. It's why I do not like Marquette. Crowder was the king of it. Gardner is like 300lbs and flops all the time. Pathetic.

You've got that right.

[SJU87]

We are approaching the final bend in the Big East track. The weather forecast is calling for about 8-inches of snow, due to start falling Saturday afternoon here in the northeast. Luckily, pitchers and catchers should start arriving in the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues. There are 4 games scheduled on Presidents Day weekend:

Saturday:
DePaul at Providence, 2pm.
Xavier at Marquette, 4pm, Fox (main channel).

Sunday:
#6 Villanova at #18 Creighton, 5pm, FS1.
Georgetown at St John's, at MSG, 7pm, FS1.

PC really needs to win this DePaul game. Hopefully the Friars come out loose and sharp. Two weeks ago in Chicago, this matchup was decided in the last 2 minutes. That game featured the break out party for RJ Curington.

Xavier vs Marquette will be a tight game. Marquette trying to make a final push at the end, and currently hold 4th place. Xavier has pretty much locked up an NCAA bid. Solid win at Butler earlier this week. Christon is worth the price of admission.

Villanova will be in front of a packed C-Link crowd, looking to avenge a blowout loss to Creighton. This game is so cool, it earned its own thread...! All eyes will be on the Lumberjack...

Finally, on Sunday night at 7pm, red-hot Georgetown faces white-hot St John's, in the World's Most Famous Arena**. This game has huge, huge NCAA implications. Both teams have RPI's in the mid 50's. St John's seemed out of sync at Seton Hall last night, kinda like they were playing not to lose, rather than trying to run the Pirates off the court aggressively. I'm pretty sure that both the Hoyas and Johnnies will come out with high octane... leave it all on the table... and any other cliche you can think of.

** How "famous" is Madison Square Garden...? As one small example, reportedly, near the end of WW2, Mussolini said he didn't want to be captured by the Allies and carted around Madison Square Garden like a circus performer... pretty famous arena... pretty bad ending for Mussolini... he would've been better off at MSG...! Unless I have it wrong, and Mussolini didn't want to be carted around the Greensboro Denny's...!

How famous ? The Nazi's held rallies at MSG in the late 1930's. Imagine a Nazi rally in the heart of NYC today ? The whole arena was packed with Nazi's wearing German uniforms and waving Swastiga flags .

[RedStormNation]

Do any SJ fans know if I can buy a student ticket at the MSG ticket office in person? No one at the Queens campus is answering the box office even though someone told me that they are open Sundays if there is a game that day. They really don't make it easy to get tickets…now I'm getting nervous because my friend got 1 already but I still need to get mine. The MSG site said the box office there opens at 12 PM if there is a game Sunday. So I was going to call and ask to reserve a student ticket at will call. Not sure if they can even do that or if there will be any left if they can.

[Bill Marsh]

Close games. Evenly matched teams.

St. John's by 4-5 points.
Creighton by 2-3 points.

[aughnanure]

I think Xavier is in trouble.

I don't.