Big East Tourney

[OTRMUSKIE]

First will there be one? And second, if there is, why not allow all the teams to play 3 or 4 games. Set it up like a holiday tournament. Give everybody a chance to make up the games they lost due to Covid.

[Xuperman]

Yeah, since you've made the trip...make the most of it. Could work out nicely by simply having a losers bracket. Excellent idea.....hello Val?

[UCGRAD4X]

I know time would be an issue, but maybe get in the bubble, play the last week of games, squeeze in some make-ups and/or play a double elimination tournament.

That's what I've been saying. Seems like a no-brainer.

[noteggs]

Does anyone know what the BE tournament format will be this year? In years past, top 6 got a first round bye. Since we added UConn, I’m having a tough time doing the math. Assuming top 5 getting a bye with 6 playing in first round.

[GoMuskies]

Does anyone know what the BE tournament format will be this year? In years past, top 6 got a first round bye. Since we added UConn, I’m having a tough time doing the math. Assuming top 5 getting a bye with 6 playing in first round.

That's correct. Easy formula for figuring that out. Take the number of teams you have (11 in our case) (we'll assign that the variable X). Find the next number above X for which you could have a tournament where you would have a "full" first round where all teams would participate in the first round (call that Y, and in this case it is 16). Y - X = the number of teams that get byes. So in this case 16-11 = 5 getting byes with 6 playing in the first round. So if you had a 23 team tournament, it would be 32-23 = 9 with byes and 14 playing in the first round, etc.

[MHettel]

That's what I've been saying. Seems like a no-brainer.

ummm. not so sure I see it that way.

I mean, yeah, it would be nice to have a little more basketball to watch. But lets look at some matchups that could occur in this so-called losers bracket.

Team A is not an NCAA Tourney Team and is Playing B, who is also not a Tourney Team- What would be the appeal of this game? It has no NCAA TOurney implications, and isn't exactly compelling viewing....

Team A IS an NCAA Tourney Team and Plays B, who is not- why risk a potentially bubble bursting loss for Team A? And why risk the covid exposure that could cause Team A to miss the Big Dance?

2 Bubble teams playing each other- Probably ensures one makes it an not the other. Also probably ensures that both WONT make it whereas if this game is NOT played, then at least there is the chance that both make it.

So, really this is a "brainer" decision. to not do that,.

[drudy23]

There's no reason to schedule any extra games after/during the BET.

[Xuperman]

Does anyone know what the BE tournament format will be this year? In years past, top 6 got a first round bye. Since we added UConn, I’m having a tough time doing the math. Assuming top 5 getting a bye with 6 playing in first round.

All systems go.....Big East just released the official tournament bracket.

https://www.bigeast.com/documents/2021/2/26//2021_MBB_Tournament_Bracket.pdf

Goal would be to somehow snag 2 more wins and play in that 4/5 game on day 2.

[UCGRAD4X]

ummm. not so sure I see it that way.

I mean, yeah, it would be nice to have a little more basketball to watch. But lets look at some matchups that could occur in this so-called losers bracket.

Team A is not an NCAA Tourney Team and is Playing B, who is also not a Tourney Team- What would be the appeal of this game? It has no NCAA TOurney implications, and isn't exactly compelling viewing....

Team A IS an NCAA Tourney Team and Plays B, who is not- why risk a potentially bubble bursting loss for Team A? And why risk the covid exposure that could cause Team A to miss the Big Dance?

2 Bubble teams playing each other- Probably ensures one makes it an not the other. Also probably ensures that both WONT make it whereas if this game is NOT played, then at least there is the chance that both make it.

So, really this is a "brainer" decision. to not do that,.

Hey! Don't piss on my brain, man!

[Xuperman]

Butler taking out Nova makes things interesting. I'll be rooting for Creighton to win out and get the top seed in MSG.

[Xuperman]

Here's that cool tournament calculator.

http://bball.notnothing.net/bigeast.php?sport=mbb

[D-West & PO-Z]

Here's that cool tournament calculator.

http://bball.notnothing.net/bigeast.php?sport=mbb

Thanks!

What we really need to happen is Xavier win out and Seton Hall beat Uconn and then St. Johns beat Seton Hall.

That would put us a the number 3 spot playing the winner of the 6/11 game.

[UCGRAD4X]

Thanks!

What we really need to happen is Xavier win out and Seton Hall beat Uconn and then St. Johns beat Seton Hall.

That would put us a the number 3 spot playing the winner of the 6/11 game.

Hey. Could happen.

http://e.lvme.me/m7j41wh.jpg

[Xuperman]

If X gets the win at Marquette, It's basically assured that we play in the 4-5 game against the winner of SJU vs SHU. Lose and we probably get the 6 seed vs DePaul....deja vu?

Best I can tell the top 3 seeds are set. Even if UConn should lose to GTown, they still get the 3. If GU does win, and X loses, looks like we get Butler on day 1.

[D-West & PO-Z]

If X gets the win at Marquette, It's basically assured that we play in the 4-5 game against the winner of SJU vs SHU. Lose and we probably get the 6 seed vs DePaul....deja vu?

Best I can tell the top 3 seeds are set. Even if UConn should lose to GTown, they still get the 3. If GU does win, and X loses, looks like we get Butler on day 1.

We are the last game of the day Saturday so win ir lose we will know our seed and opponent at the end of our game. If we win I would rather play Seton Hall because the present the better win and the "better" loss, even though I think we need to win Marquette and BE game to feel for sure safe.

[Xuperman]

So, the draw in the BET is favorable considering X is 3-1 vs the first 2 scheduled opponents, with an additional win vs PC who would be a preferable match up in the semi finals.

You have to believe that we will be favored by 5-6 vs BU and Vegas could have the spread somewhat close vs CU because of the way things went in the prior 2.

All sets up for a decent shot at the finals IMO.

I could definitely see that Marquette team getting to the finals. Villanova is hobbled with Gillespie out and Moore injured Saturday. The 4-5 teams are both very beatable especially if Justin Lewis gets hot. Would love to play the rubber match vs MU for the championship!!

[Xville]

They’ll be lucky to beat butler with this idiot as coach. Tandy almost saves the bacon against gtown..5 minutes tonight. steele is a garbage coach.

[markchal]

They’ll be lucky to beat butler with this idiot as coach. Tandy almost saves the bacon against gtown..5 minutes tonight. steele is a garbage coach.

while I agree Tandy should play more, he's not the answer. He got into the game early last night and did not play well. At least Kunkel isn't afraid to drive, Tandy chucks wild 3s, or he takes one step in and attempts the lowest percentage shot in basketball. He should get some more time, but there are much bigger deficiencies in this program right now than our backcourt.

[xavierj]

while I agree Tandy should play more, he's not the answer. He got into the game early last night and did not play well. At least Kunkel isn't afraid to drive, Tandy chucks wild 3s, or he takes one step in and attempts the lowest percentage shot in basketball. He should get some more time, but there are much bigger deficiencies in this program right now than our backcourt.

So when Kunkel and Paul are going 1-12 from three and the team is shooting 15% you don’t think it’s a good idea to try to play the guy who if he gets hot, he could go off and you win the game? That’s the problem with Steele, he is too afraid to try something different. Xavier lost for one reason last night and that is because they couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean. If They shoot 32% from 3, which isn’t great, they win the game. If they make simple layups, they win the game. Tandy knocked down a shot, was 1-3 with a steal, was playing fine on defense and then never plays again. He is shooting 36% from three. When your team is shooting 11% through 25 minutes of play, you may want to see if he can come in and heat it up.

[bjf123]

So, the draw in the BET is favorable considering X is 3-1 vs the first 2 scheduled opponents, with an additional win vs PC who would be a preferable match up in the semi finals.

You have to believe that we will be favored by 5-6 vs BU and Vegas could have the spread somewhat close vs CU because of the way things went in the prior 2.

All sets up for a decent shot at the finals IMO.

I could definitely see that Marquette team getting to the finals. Villanova is hobbled with Gillespie out and Moore injured Saturday. The 4-5 teams are both very beatable especially if Justin Lewis gets hot. Would love to play the rubber match vs MU for the championship!!

Can I have some of what you’re smoking? That has to be some righteous shit if you’re thinking that. After these last two games, I fully expect a loss to Butler.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Xavier]

Yeah, I’d say X beats Butler and gets smoked against Creighton.

[Xuperman]

Can I have some of what you’re smoking? That has to be some righteous shit if you’re thinking that. After these last two games, I fully expect a loss to Butler.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Now the negativity is being espoused just for the sake of being negative. We've pounded them pretty good both games and X will be the clear favorite. X has the scoring edge in the split with CU, so that certainly points to a winnable game. Get PC off a 2 game winning streak and it's fair to say X is favored there.

Just making an reasonable observation above the toxic fog of this board.

[drudy23]

Now the negativity is being espoused just for the sake of being negative. We've pounded them pretty good both games and X will be the clear favorite. X has the scoring edge in the split with CU, so that certainly points to a winnable game. Get PC off a 2 game winning streak and it's fair to say X is favored there.

Just making an reasonable observation above the toxic fog of this board.

A reasonable observation is this team running the bracket and cutting down the nets?

Do you have eyeballs?

There’s nothing to point to that makes your observations reasonable.

Reasonable lol

[bleedXblue]

Yeah, I’d say X beats Butler and gets smoked against Creighton.

why we actually match up well against them?

[bleedXblue]

Now the negativity is being espoused just for the sake of being negative. We've pounded them pretty good both games and X will be the clear favorite. X has the scoring edge in the split with CU, so that certainly points to a winnable game. Get PC off a 2 game winning streak and it's fair to say X is favored there.

Just making an reasonable observation above the toxic fog of this board.

Favored? No they will not be favored. CU will be by 4-5

[Xuperman]

Favored? No they will not be favored. CU will be by 4-5

No, favored vs Butler.

Based on the split with Creighton and the fact we actually out scored them overall, I said it was winnable, which it is.

[drudy23]

All of the games are winnable - doesn’t mean we will win them.

[markchal]

also we were pretty competitive with Butler last time, and they were missing like three of their best players...there's no guarantee we beat them

[Xuperman]

A reasonable observation is this team running the bracket and cutting down the nets?

Do you have eyeballs?

There’s nothing to point to that makes your observations reasonable.

Reasonable lol

Yes, eyeballs fine. What I saw was a very young team, playing on the road, vs a suddenly hot Hoya team and a Marquette team that just destroyed UNC in Chapel Hill! Both were 3 point games in the closing minutes and the home teams eek out wins. Crazy, because that never happens.

[Xville]

Yes, eyeballs fine. What I saw was a very young team, playing on the road, vs a suddenly hot Hoya team and a Marquette team that just destroyed UNC in Chapel Hill! Both were 3 point games in the closing minutes and the home teams eek out wins. Crazy, because that never happens.

Hurley in his third season; first in the big east beats that same incredible Georgetown and Marquette team by a hundred and oh endured several injuries this year including to his best player, and they are safely in the tournament. Spare me your excuses.

[xavierj]

Hurley in his third season; first in the big east beats that same incredible Georgetown and Marquette team by a hundred and oh endured several injuries this year including to his best player, and they are safely in the tournament. Spare me your excuses.

Hurley was quite awful in the American though.

[xavierj]

also we were pretty competitive with Butler last time, and they were missing like three of their best players...there's no guarantee we beat them

They are still with out Thompson and Enze got hurt again yesterday.

[Xville]

Hurley was quite awful in the American though.

No he wasn’t awful...he took over a team that had back to back losing seasons. His first season was rough, second season he improved by five games and this year safely in.

[xavierj]

No he wasn’t awful...he took over a team that had back to back losing seasons. His first season was rough, second season he improved by five games and this year safely in.

He has a 58% winning percentage in 11 years. He is better this year because he has better talent.

[Xville]

He has a 58% winning percentage in 11 years. He is better this year because he has better talent.

Seriously just stop. He’s taken over 3 programs that were in bad situations when he took over and turned each one of them completely around.

[Xuperman]

Hurley in his third season; first in the big east beats that same incredible Georgetown and Marquette team by a hundred and oh endured several injuries this year including to his best player, and they are safely in the tournament. Spare me your excuses.

Man this is going nowhere. I am at work and fortunately I have a job where I'm able to pass the time posting.

How in the world do you haters constantly use the word "excuse" when cold hard reality is right in your face.

X has the youngest roster in conference. Winning with a bunch of underclassmen, in huge roles, has ALWAYS been a challenge.... at any level, let alone the BEast. That is not an excuse, just fact.

Travis Steele is the youngest coach in the league, coming in with no prior head coaching experience, having to learn on the job. This has always been a very difficult situation for producing success early, at any level. Again simple fact.

So, excuse away....it fits your narrative nicely.

[XUBison]

Man this is going nowhere. I am at work and fortunately I have a job where I'm able to pass the time posting.

How in the world do you haters constantly use the word "excuse" when cold hard reality is right in your face.

X has the youngest roster in conference. Winning with a bunch of underclassmen, in huge roles, has ALWAYS been a challenge.... at any level, let alone the BEast. That is not an excuse, just fact.

Travis Steele is the youngest coach in the league, coming in with no prior head coaching experience, having to learn on the job. This has always been a very difficult situation for producing success early, at any level. Again simple fact.

So, excuse away....it fits your narrative nicely.

Well, you are the guy who‘s on HLOH insisting to Marquette fans that they need to keep Wojo. So, there’s that.

[Xuperman]

Well, you are the guy who‘s on HLOH insisting to Marquette fans that they need to keep Wojo. So, there’s that.

You are correct sir. Although Wojo has deserved the CAN, far beyond our Coach Steele, there are some people called Athletic Directors that get paid big bucks to make hiring decisions. Can we ALL agree that these people know infinitely more about coaching talent than anyone on a fan board?

Most of these ADs have confidence in their hires and choose to let things play out. Stop the toxic nonsense and have faith in the top guys at X to continue a winning tradition.

[Xuperman]

Waggy....I see the light now!

[Xuperman]

This continues to be insanity. Where is the push back from true X fans on this board? Am I on a island here?

You do know there are potential recruits/family, not to mention casual BE people, perusing this site. The loons own the narrative 10-1. No way to stop the ridiculous mauling of of Coach Steele but I can't believe that there is virtually no support for this guy here!

[xudash]

This continues to be insanity. Where is the push back from true X fans on this board? Am I on a island here?

You do know there are potential recruits/family, not to mention casual BE people, perusing this site. The loons own the narrative 10-1. No way to stop the ridiculous mauling of of Coach Steele but I can't believe that there is virtually no support for this guy here!

I am on your side.

I trust our leadership is on your side, and I trust their disposition on this matter.

This is a message board and it comes with passionate fans, but those fans here are comparatively few in number, when compared to the entire fan base.

I agree with many hear that Travis has a number of areas to clean up when it comes to his coaching skills and judgment calls with respect to his personnel.

But I also realize a few things:

1. He knows more than anyone here about what is going on inside the program with his personnel. We do not have all of the facts here.

2. He was dealt a tough hand on the way in with respect to his roster composition.

3. He was dealt a blow last season when he lost Scruggs for the last three games.

4. This Covid season has absolutely screwed everything up for everyone. Nothing is normal this year. Some teams have been more fortunate than others. I do not consider the Xavier program to be in that group.

5. We lost Nate Johnson, and other personnel apparently have not been available from time to time.

I don’t like the late season losses, especially with everything on the line. I understand and agree with the issues having to do with playing certain personnel versus others. I agree that Carter has been given too much playing time, even though he’s a great kid who works hard.

Travis needs to get better, but he deserves more time. It frankly is that simple. Everyone can continue to chew on all of this here until you become blue in the face, but that is not going to change anything.

By the way, small point, but Travis praised his players after the loss, insofar as he praised them for playing hard. If’s and but’s, yada yada yada, but if a few more threes had dropped, this would be a very different conversation.

[Xuperman]

I am on your side.

I trust our leadership is on your side, and I trust their disposition on this matter.

This is a message board and it comes with passionate fans, but those fans here are comparatively few in number, when compared to the entire fan base.

I agree with many hear that Travis has a number of areas to clean up when it comes to his coaching skills and judgment calls with respect to his personnel.

But I also realize a few things:

1. He knows more than anyone here about what is going on inside the program with his personnel. We do not have all of the facts here.

2. He was dealt a tough hand on the way in with respect to his roster composition.

3. He was dealt a blow last season when he lost Scruggs for the last three games.

4. This Covid season has absolutely screwed everything up for everyone. Nothing is normal this year. Some teams have been more fortunate than others. I do not consider the Xavier program to be in that group.

5. We lost Nate Johnson, and other personnel apparently have not been available from time to time.

I don’t like the late season losses, especially with everything on the line. I understand and agree with the issues having to do with playing certain personnel versus others. I agree that Carter has been given too much playing time, even though he’s a great kid who works hard.

Travis needs to get better, but he deserves more time. It frankly is that simple. Everyone can continue to chew on all of this here until you become blue in the face, but that is not going to change anything.

By the way, small point, but Travis praised his players after the loss, insofar as he praised them for playing hard. If’s and but’s, yada yada yada, but if a few more threes had dropped, this would be a very different conversation.

Alas, another brave soul chooses to to take up the sword and shield against the evil horde! Who else will come forward to beat down these deviant demons?

[paulxu]

1. He knows more than anyone here about what is going on inside the program with his personnel. We do not have all of the facts here.



This.

[drudy23]

This.

It's also why he should be the most accountable.

[markchal]

It's also why he should be the most accountable.

THIS. Why do people not understand this???? So many apologists want to act like Steele took over this group of players yesterday...he built it! He was involved with ALL of these players, he came from our program, it's not like he walked into a lot of players and pieces he disliked or wouldn't want on his team.

And even if we grant all of the excuses that certain people want to hide behind, how does that explain how the team could play hard and well enough to beat Creighton, and then choke in consecutive games against lower ranked competition with nothing to play for? He's making major roster shake ups in the very final game of the regular season (and not even related to injury, as inserting Odom for Johnson was easy), and constantly says things like "we need to play harder"/etc. --those aren't inspiring much confidence that he knows how to fix what's wrong.

[paulxu]

It's also why he should be the most accountable.

Of course.

[D-West & PO-Z]

This continues to be insanity. Where is the push back from true X fans on this board? Am I on a island here?

You do know there are potential recruits/family, not to mention casual BE people, perusing this site. The loons own the narrative 10-1. No way to stop the ridiculous mauling of of Coach Steele but I can't believe that there is virtually no support for this guy here!

Here is my thing. I have always supported Steele and had confidence in him becoming the guy. I still support him and think he deserves another year but my confidence is as low as its ever been.

There are very fair reasonable concerns about and critiques of Steele.

The people who dont acknowledge there are reasonable concerns, aren't reasonable fans, they are just as unreasonable as the people who think Steele should be fired today.

Next year should be telling. There wont be a guy in the building next year who isnt purely a Steel guy. We will be youngish but that shouldnt be an excuse next year. Find a nice fill in transfer or two and make the tourney.

[drudy23]

One thing he can't hide from - the reality of his program is based off of the decisions he has made to date. Yes, there's been some unavoidable things (injuries, covid), but every team has injuries, and every team had to deal with covid.

The best are the best because of the decisions they make along the way. You can't hide from that. It's your program.

[IM4X]

One thing he can't hide from - the reality of his program is based off of the decisions he has made to date. Yes, there's been some unavoidable things (injuries, covid), but every team has injuries, and every team had to deal with covid.

The best are the best because of the decisions they make along the way. You can't hide from that. It's your program.

This is a pretty good take.

Coach Steele deserves leniency with issues that are out of his hand. Even the decisions he makes that end up being mistakes are forgivable, if those poor decisions don’t keep reoccurring- in other words- clear growth and improvement with a coach needs to be seen. Is the coach getting better at recognizing what is ailing the team and how to fix those things or is he ignoring (or even totally unaware that) those issues are really issues? Like when we hear the coach say in post pressers, “I’m not worried about our offense” or “I don’t have a problem with us shooting so many open threes...they will eventually fall.”

Is Steele aware when he is putting his team in a better situation to win with his decisions and when he is doing things to hurt his team - like when he plays lineups that have’t worked well together and only makes changes when the game is slipping away and it is virtually too late? Did Steele understand how desperately he needed to add a legit Big East level forward/center on the roster (6’10+ rebounder and stopper) or did he just think Carter would magically transform

Look, Steele has recruited some nice players and he gets credit for showing up against Creighton with some answers that looked promising (got players to stay aggressive and disruptive, called quick timeouts exactly when they were needed, kept on players to create great ball movement that created better opportunities). He has shown hints that he can be a very good coach but again he needs to show consistency and continued growth and improvement. You see a game like Creighton and it’s like “Now he’s got it, but then you see the next two games with the team regressing and it’s like, “Nope, I guess he doesn’t have it yet.”

[bobbiemcgee]

Yep. Consistently Inconsistent.

[GoMuskies]

This is by far the least excited I've been for a Big East Tournament since Xavier joined the league. I'm sure once tip time approaches my apathy will wear off, but right now I just don't see a whole lot of reason for optimism.

[D-West & PO-Z]

This is by far the least excited I've been for a Big East Tournament since Xavier joined the league. I'm sure once tip time approaches my apathy will wear off, but right now I just don't see a whole lot of reason for optimism.

I'm only starting to get somewhat excited after seeing and realizing how bad the rest of the bubble has sucked and seeing that the majority of bracketologists still have X in. Its amazing to me that we have a legit chance still if we just beat Butler. Would seemingly be a lock if we win 2.

[Strange Brew]

I am on your side.

I trust our leadership is on your side, and I trust their disposition on this matter.

This is a message board and it comes with passionate fans, but those fans here are comparatively few in number, when compared to the entire fan base.

I agree with many hear that Travis has a number of areas to clean up when it comes to his coaching skills and judgment calls with respect to his personnel.

But I also realize a few things:

1. He knows more than anyone here about what is going on inside the program with his personnel. We do not have all of the facts here.

2. He was dealt a tough hand on the way in with respect to his roster composition.

3. He was dealt a blow last season when he lost Scruggs for the last three games.

4. This Covid season has absolutely screwed everything up for everyone. Nothing is normal this year. Some teams have been more fortunate than others. I do not consider the Xavier program to be in that group.

5. We lost Nate Johnson, and other personnel apparently have not been available from time to time.

I don’t like the late season losses, especially with everything on the line. I understand and agree with the issues having to do with playing certain personnel versus others. I agree that Carter has been given too much playing time, even though he’s a great kid who works hard.

Travis needs to get better, but he deserves more time. It frankly is that simple. Everyone can continue to chew on all of this here until you become blue in the face, but that is not going to change anything.

By the way, small point, but Travis praised his players after the loss, insofar as he praised them for playing hard. If’s and but’s, yada yada yada, but if a few more threes had dropped, this would be a very different conversation.

Fair and I’ve been impatient myself. I think we all are done with patience in most areas of life and want X, our team, our school to win as a form of release. I do. I’ve decided to turn my frustrations back into fun (unrealistic as it may be) and believe this group is going to put it together and give the BET fits. If they don’t. Well, that’s how it goes but it’s going be much more fun believing in and cheering for X like a loon than making this part of my life another giant crap sandwich from a dud of a year.

I believe in X. We’ve won 4 in a row to go dancing before. Why the hell not this year!

Let’s go X! Let’s go X!

[xavierj]

Just have to make shots. They do that and they will win games. It’s really that simple.

[Strange Brew]

Just have to make shots. They do that and they will win games. It’s really that simple.

We hit the ball we win the game, Tony Perez. Sometimes it is that simple....