Anonymous Eagle - The 2019-20 Marquette Men’s Basketball Non-Conference ScheduleYour home for coverage of Wisconsin's elite college athletics.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46843/anon-fave.png2019-11-04T08:45:00-06:00http://www.anonymouseagle.com/rss/stream/184414292019-11-04T08:45:00-06:002019-11-04T08:45:00-06:002019-20 Preview Roundtable: What Will Be The Biggest Surprise?
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<img alt="Creighton v Marquette" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rroJCFO_BtYk6vVe4YU5znrymGc=/1005x0:5568x3042/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65620224/1133452444.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Or if you prefer: GIVE US YOUR HOTTEST TAKE POSSIBLE.</p> <p id="xtm3As">The 2019-20 college basketball season is quickly approaching, and thus, we turn our attention to previewing the upcoming <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/"><strong>Marquette Golden Eagles</strong></a> men’s basketball season.</p>
<p id="aU0tjC">To that end, we’ve got a stacked up list of questions about the 2019-20 campaign, and each of the contributors to AE are going to take a crack at answering them. There will be a new question every weekday morning between now and the start of the season, so be sure to stop back every day to find the new one.</p>
<p id="Mer08m">Onwards, then, to the question of the day:</p>
<h1 id="wK9XV4">What will be the biggest surprise of the 2019-20 Marquette men’s basketball season?</h1>
<p id="epDGXL">If you can name it, it’s not really a surprise, is it? So, this isn’t <em>really</em> about being surprised, it’s about throwing out your hottest and yet plausible theory/idea/whatever for what’s going to happen to the Golden Eagles this coming season.</p>
<h2 id="I9xQin">Pistol Brad: </h2>
<p id="PqLXAt"><strong>Marquette wins the </strong><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/big-east-basketball-tournament"><strong>Big East Tournament</strong></a><strong>.</strong> Senior guards are the most important thing in March and Marquette has two. I think the debacle that was last year’s game against Seton Hall sticks in their heads as they walk in to Madison Square Garden one last time. <span>Markus Howard</span> ends false pre-season Big East POY <span>Myles Powell</span>’s conference career in the semi-final and <span>Theo John</span> punts him back to New Jersey where he belongs. Then Marquette goes on to beat a young Villanova team in the finals. Book it.</p>
<h2 id="ZZAyMe">Ben Snider: </h2>
<p id="pj3L0W">I hate making negative predictions, specifically about individual players, but I think fans have assumed good production out of <span>Koby McEwen</span> to the point that him merely being “pretty good” would be considered a disappointment. <strong>I don’t even think he’s an average high-major player this year.</strong> He has a ton of upside that he could still live up to, and I’m truly rooting for it to happen, but his numbers at Utah State were just not good. Synergy rated him in the 12th percentile (as in 88% were better than him) of all defenders in his final year there, getting carved up in pick-and-roll situations especially. He also took a ton of shots in an offense that really didn’t need him to, with <span>Sam Merrill</span> and <span>Quinn Taylor</span> providing more than capable help. In transition opportunities he turned the ball over 25% of the time, which is an area that Marquette desperately needs help with.</p>
<h2 id="953Rmf">Sam Newberry:</h2>
<p id="FQnmiO"><strong>Marquette goes 11-1 in non-conference play.</strong> Book it.</p>
<h2 id="CfKwmQ">Patrick Leary: </h2>
<p id="lwRxkN">I believe the unheralded <span><strong>Dexter Akanno</strong></span><strong> will be a valuable rotation piece</strong> for Marquette by early Big East play. My thinking here involves the forward position being Marquette’s most shallow. Two of <span>Sacar Anim</span>, <span>Brendan Bailey</span> and <span>Jamal Cain</span> won’t play at all times, and while Wojo has suggested that he’ll play two centers a fair amount, I think Akanno’s strength and athleticism make him an ideal backup for Anim. I can see him developing into a lock-down defender for Marquette, ultimately replacing Anim as the go-to perimeter defender next season.</p>
<h2 id="2nHcI0">Besay:</h2>
<p id="L8oZS9"><strong>Symir Torrence will be the starting point guard by the end of the year</strong>. I think he’ll be a better option than Koby and Greg as the primary ball handler because he will develop into Marquette’s best passer while taking care of the basketball. He’s a sneaky good player. Right now it may be difficult to see where he fits in. But by the end of the season, he’ll be the difference maker for the Golden Eagles. As long as he doesn’t redshirt, I think he’ll make a run at Big East Freshmen of the Year. </p>
<h2 id="Qd3MeW">Brewtown Andy: </h2>
<p id="6IMgiv">If we’re being completely and totally honest, Sam stole mine. <a href="https://painttouches.com/2019/10/28/marquette-media-predictions-for-2019-20/">As seen over on Paint Touches</a>, I’ve got MU running the table between now and the start of 2020 except for a Thanksgiving Sunday loss to Maryland down at Disney World.</p>
<p id="jl1m6i">With that said, given the overall reactions to things over in that PT article as well as the national perspective on the Big East heading into the year, it seems that my item for biggest surprise is actually <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/10/30/20938041/marquette-golden-eagles-basketball-preview-roundtable-big-east-standings">my Big East standings pick</a>, too. <strong>I’ve got Marquette winning the Big East regular season title this year.</strong> PREPARE THE EWING THEORY DISCUSSIONS.</p>
<p id="0R1cdW">Okay, that was a repeat of a thing I’ve already said in these roundtables, so it feels unfair to give that to you again. Here’s another one: <strong>Markus Howard doesn’t average more than 20 points per game this season</strong>. Still leads the team, but a diversity of options allow the sharpshooting senior to pick his spots on a nightly basis.</p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/11/4/20946717/marquette-golden-eagles-basketball-preview-roundtable-biggest-surprise-big-east-tournament-howardPistol BradBrewtown AndySnewby22Patrick LearyBen Snider2019-07-31T15:15:00-05:002019-07-31T15:15:00-05:00Comparing The 2019-20 MBB Non-Con Schedule To Years Past
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<img alt="NCAA Basketball: Marquette at Villanova" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QpMW90SBPCB8QQnuD_8v3msMoDo=/350x0:2978x1752/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64887016/usa_today_12267019.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>We break out the slide rules to try to see a trend in MU’s non-con scheduling.</p> <p id="xGvPxR">It’s been more than a hot minute since the <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/">Marquette</a> men’s basketball non-conference schedule was officially released. </p>
<p id="HIQf1d">We know 10 games on the slate for the Golden Eagles this year, with two more still up in the air. The big games are road tilts against <a href="https://www.buckys5thquarter.com/">Wisconsin</a> and <a href="https://www.bringonthecats.com/">Kansas State</a> along with a home game against <a href="https://www.hammerandrails.com/">Purdue</a>. We’ve got buy games against Loyola-Maryland, <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/robert-morris-colonials">Robert Morris</a>, <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/jacksonville-dolphins">Jacksonville</a>, <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/grambling-st-tigers">Grambling State</a>, <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/north-dakota-st-bison">North Dakota State</a>, and <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/central-arkansas">Central Arkansas</a>. The final known game is the first game of the Orlando Invitational, where the Golden Eagles will play <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/davidson-wildcats">Davidson</a>. The two unknown games at this point are the next two at Disney World, with either <a href="https://www.conquestchronicles.com/">USC</a> or <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/fairfield-stags">Fairfield</a> coming next and then a wrap-up against one of <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/harvard-crimson">Harvard</a>, <a href="https://www.testudotimes.com/">Maryland</a>, <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/temple-owls">Temple</a>, or <a href="https://www.goodbullhunting.com/">Texas A&M</a>.</p>
<p id="08SFnf">With everything locked into place, that means we can ask the big question: How does the 2019-20 non-conference schedule stack up against the non-con slates we’ve seen in the recent past?</p>
<p id="MrSfLA">We’re going to do what we always do: Grab the final <a href="http://kenpom.com/"><strong>KenPom.com</strong></a> rankings from last season for the teams on the coming year’s schedule and find the best team, the worst team, the average ranking of all of the opponents, and the median ranking. It’s not a perfect system, of course, as teams can fluctuate in the rankings from one season to the next. There’s not a good way to project schedule strength for games that haven’t happened yet against opponents that haven’t played a game yet, so this at least gets us close, and it gives us a way to compare things to past seasons as well.</p>
<p id="paragraph2">Here’s the data for the last five seasons of Marquette basketball non-conference schedules. “Lowest” refers to the best ranked team according to the previous year’s final KenPom rankings and “highest” refers to the worst ranked team. Any games not preset on the schedule (namely tournament games that aren’t known until after MU wins or loses, like the second and third game at Disney World over Thanksgiving weekend) are not counted.</p>
<h4 id="paragraph7">2014-15 Season:</h4>
<p id="PukaQz"><strong>Low:</strong> Wisconsin (6)<br><strong>High:</strong> Tennessee-Martin (313 out of 351 teams)<br><strong>Average of MU’s 8 opponents:</strong> 170.8<br><strong>Median Opponent Ranking:</strong> 206</p>
<h4 id="paragraph9">2015-16 Season:</h4>
<p id="Lb7tV1"><strong>Low:</strong> Wisconsin (3)<br><strong>High:</strong> Grambling State (351 out of 351 teams)<br><strong>Average of MU’s 11 opponents:</strong> 254<br><strong>Median Opponent Ranking:</strong> 321</p>
<h4 id="ZRsNGD">2016-17 Season:</h4>
<p id="6080An"><strong>Low:</strong> Vanderbilt (31)<br><strong>High:</strong> Howard (332 out of 351 teams)<br><strong>Average of MU’s 11 opponents:</strong> 173.6<br><strong>Median Opponent Ranking:</strong> 188</p>
<h4 id="esxD4A">2017-18 Season:</h4>
<p id="tKTnH0"><strong>Low: </strong><a href="https://www.hammerandrails.com/"><strong>Purdue</strong></a> (19)<br><strong>High:</strong> <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/chicago-st-cougars"><strong>Chicago State</strong></a> (335 out of 351)<br><strong>Average of MU’s 9 opponents:</strong> 160<br><strong>Median Opponent Ranking:</strong> 205</p>
<h4 id="24kkvs">2018-19 Season:</h4>
<p id="lOTfO2"><strong>Low:</strong> Kansas State (42)<br><strong>High: </strong><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/blue-hose"><strong>Presbyterian</strong></a> (334 out of 351)<br><strong>Average of MU’s 11 opponents:</strong> 189.9<br><strong>Median Opponent Ranking:</strong> 239</p>
<p id="HnxZAU">Aaaaaaand here’s this coming season.</p>
<h4 id="6nlNRA">2019-20 Season:</h4>
<p id="4GUQS7"><strong>Low:</strong> Purdue (9)<br><strong>High:</strong> Central Arkansas (302 out of 353)<br><strong>Average of MU’s 10 opponents:</strong> 168.8<br><strong>Median Opponent Ranking:</strong> 224.5</p>
<p id="CP7Oxm">By way of seeing MU’s best non-conference opponent since 2015-16 (aka Steve Wojciechowski’s entire tenure as head coach) and their best ranked team on the back end of the spectrum since 2011-12 (aka Buzz Williams’ second Sweet 16 season), we ended up getting the second best average ranking in the last six seasons. That’s not too shabby.</p>
<p id="q3Qj5v">The median marker is a little bit less impressive than that, but that can be explained somewhat easily. Marquette’s schedule, at least in terms of last year’s KenPom rankings, is heavily tilted in two directions. MU has three top 20 games, as well as #268, #269, and #270 all in a row. Those create some pretty serious anchors on either end for the median calculation, and with three top 20 teams and four in the top 100, it was unlikely that the Golden Eagles were going to schedule between 100 and 200 all that much. I’m not faulting anyone here for that. The schedule is fine tilting towards pretty good the way it’s set up, and that’s without factoring in two games from the Orlando Invitational.</p>
<p id="2FCO8I">Even a couple of the games in the back end of the distribution are against teams that are expected to be pretty good within the context of their own conference this coming season. That’s all you can really ask for in a schedule.</p>
<p id="39TQjJ">The big question that we’ll probably never get an answer to is whether or not this was the schedule that Marquette was planning on playing back in early April. How many of these games were locked in place before <span>Sam Hauser</span> and <span>Joey Hauser</span> announced their departure from Milwaukee, and how many were scheduled after that point? Is this the schedule that Steve Wojciechowski wanted to play with a team that was going to be considered a national title contender, or are we looking at a set of contests, specifically the buy games, that are aimed at preparing a roster that has a lot more question marks than you’d like to see coming off a 24-10 season with no senior starters?</p>
<p id="lauRZq">We’re just a little more than three months away from seeing how it all shakes out. Thank goodness for the upcoming Euro trip to help us try to answer a question or 17 about what to think heading into this slate of games.</p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/7/31/20747652/marquette-golden-eagles-basketball-non-conference-schedule-strength-comparisonBrewtown Andy2019-07-12T07:55:00-05:002019-07-12T07:55:00-05:00Marquette To Open The 2019 Orlando Invitational Against Davidson
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<img alt="NCAA Basketball: Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Championship-Davidson vs Rhode Island" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8KkaOyGdNDO-qUzEYRUrhpcJdYY=/0x0:4622x3081/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64715737/usa_today_10695851.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>It should be a pretty good game, but I have questions about the bracketing decisions.</p> <p id="lfftDo">The final piece of the <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/">Marquette</a> men’s basketball 2019-20 non-conference schedule dropped into place on Thursday when ESPN Events released the bracket for the 2019 Orlando Invitational. Your Golden Eagles will be starting off the event at Walt Disney World’s Wide World Of Sports against <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/davidson-wildcats">Davidson</a> on Thursday, November 28th, aka Thanksgiving. GoMarquette.com’s press release says “6pm or 6:30pm Eastern” for tipoff time, but given that there’s a game at 4pm Eastern, I think saying 6:30 Eastern/5:30 Central is a safe bet.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Official bracket for <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNEvents?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNEvents</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/OrlandoInv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OrlandoInv</a> announced and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mubb?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#mubb</a> will face Davidson in tourney opener. Looking forward to seeing a large <a href="https://twitter.com/MarquetteU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MarquetteU</a> crowd in the stands! <a href="https://t.co/8foH6pZkha">https://t.co/8foH6pZkha</a> <a href="https://t.co/DGH8x02P4N">pic.twitter.com/DGH8x02P4N</a></p>— Marquette Basketball (@MarquetteMBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarquetteMBB/status/1149381478171774976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 11, 2019</a>
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<script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p id="7VFpxT">Let’s talk about Davidson, shall we?</p>
<h2 id="KCpTdw">Davidson Wildcats</h2>
<p id="lFHpkj"><strong>2018-19 Record:</strong> 24-10, 14-4 Atlantic 10<br><strong>Final 2018-19 </strong><a href="http://KenPom.com"><strong>KenPom.com</strong></a><strong> Ranking:</strong> #85<br><strong>Head Coach:</strong> Bob McKillop, entering his 31st season as a head coach, all at Davidson with a record of 578-350<br><strong>2019-20 </strong><a href="http://www.barttorvik.com/trankpre.php"><strong>T-Rank Preseason Rank</strong></a><strong>:</strong> #50<br><strong>All-Time Series: </strong>Marquette leads, 2-1<br><strong>Last Meeting:</strong> <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2013/3/21/4133822/what-the-i-dont-even-how-wooooo-3-marquette-59-14-davidson-58">It sucked, a lot, except for the ending</a>.</p>
<div id="vX1FwP"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/x-EdfwyLvZk?rel=0" style="border: 0; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe></div></div>
<p id="qDEbg8">Well, let’s just get it out in the open to start with: Bob McKillop is a super coach who has handled bouncing Davidson from an independent in his first season to the Big South for two years, then to the SoCon for two decades, and then up to the Atlantic 10 starting in 2014, grinding out wins at every level. He hasn’t had a losing season overall since 2000-01, and that was his only losing season since his first three years running the show.</p>
<p id="sFoafX">He’s also crap in the NCAA tournament when <a href="https://usatwarriorswire.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/gettyimages-80436031.jpg?w=1000&h=600&crop=1?w=1000&crop=0">Steph Curry isn’t wearing a jersey that’s nine sizes too big</a>. 3-9 overall, with all three wins coming in his 2008 Elite Eight run. McKillop has also only put the Wildcats in the NCAA tournament in two of Davidson’s five seasons in the Atlantic 10. That’s a much better rate than when they were in the SoCon, sure, but it’s wildly easier to make it into the field when you’re in the Atlantic 10. Draw your own conclusions there.</p>
<p id="4QEI2e">As for what they’ll look like in November, uh, well, if you see that #50 in the T-Rank projections, then you already know that Davidson’s probably going to be pretty damn good. They had four double digit scorers last season, and all four are back after top two scorers <span>Kellan Grady</span> (17.3 points per game) and <span>Jon Axel Gudmundsson</span> (16.9 ppg) withdrew their names from the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba-draft">NBA Draft</a>.</p>
<p id="M0iMXC">Grady might have been the team’s top scorer, but it was Axel Gudmundsson who was the KenPom Player of the Year in the Atlantic 10. The 6’5”, 190 pound Iceland native averaged 7.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists last season, leading the Wildcats in both regards. If you look at his KenPom profile from last season, he kind of looks like an experiment in what would happen if you stretched <span>Markus Howard</span> a little taller and sacrificed a little bit of shooting in the process. He gets to the line a ton, makes a bunch of his freebies, passes incredibly well, and then also rebounds the hell out of the ball on the defensive end thanks to his height.</p>
<p id="qKCdpQ">This game will almost assuredly turn into a three-point shooting contest, as McKillop’s teams have been ranked in the top 25 in the country in three-point attempt rate since joining the A-10, and they’ve been top 70 in the country every season since 2001-02. Steve Wojciechowski has leaned into draining jumpers from outside during the three seasons of The Markus Howard Era at Marquette, so the tendency for next year seems obvious. Of course, the past three seasons also had <span>Sam Hauser</span> on the roster, and once <span>Andrew Rowsey</span> went away, Marquette actually took a step back in rate from 2017-18 to last season.</p>
<p id="Uu5oaI">I’m not going to dive into the rest of the teams in the Orlando Invitational field here, because Marquette is only going to play two of the other six squads, and honestly, only one of four of them. Instead, I want to look at how this tournament’s bracket was set up, because it seems a wee bit goofy.</p>
<p id="8iomGm">Here’s what the first round’s bracketing situation looks like:</p>
<p id="9cb3Eu"><a href="https://www.testudotimes.com/">Maryland</a> vs <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/temple-owls">Temple</a><br><a href="https://www.goodbullhunting.com/">Texas A&M</a> vs <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/harvard-crimson">Harvard</a></p>
<p id="AZMNLX"><a href="https://www.conquestchronicles.com/">USC</a> vs <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/fairfield-stags">Fairfield</a><br>Marquette vs Davidson</p>
<p id="KQzIe0">The winners and losers of each pair will face off in their next games. For example, Marquette is guaranteed to play either USC or Fairfield next, the only question is whether it’s in the semifinals or the consolation round.</p>
<p id="GvU1Sk">For me, this leads to a lot of questions about how this thing was bracketed. If you take last year’s final KenPom rankings for each of the eight teams, this is the seeding order:</p>
<ol>
<li id="GgdDmH">Maryland</li>
<li id="ztGIFq">Marquette</li>
<li id="8R3Lmp">Temple</li>
<li id="STAX1j">USC</li>
<li id="X8Bjhr">Davidson</li>
<li id="0F7EoL">Texas A&M</li>
<li id="k344hc">Harvard</li>
<li id="Cdft8W">Fairfield</li>
</ol>
<p id="xKW32q">If you take the T-Rank projections for the 2019-20 season that are already up, here’s the seeding you get:</p>
<ol>
<li id="JU7hJr">Maryland</li>
<li id="net17V">Harvard</li>
<li id="kL9jM7">Marquette</li>
<li id="lkwQ5A">Davidson</li>
<li id="SXEVID">Texas A&M</li>
<li id="4KYCkc">USC</li>
<li id="AU9xkl">Temple</li>
<li id="UeK3ZG">Fairfield</li>
</ol>
<p id="zqUDrW">There’s a clear argument to be made that Marquette’s first round game pits two of the top four teams against each other. Why is this happening? Even better question: Why is USC playing Fairfield? The obvious answer here is “Maryland is hosting Fairfield in a non-bracketed game on November 19th” so the Stags have to go somewhere else. Also not helping the seeding situation here: Temple visiting USC on November 22. I dunno, maybe don’t take two of your possible first round games and throw them in a ditch before the event starts?</p>
<p id="wpPGeS">I want to be clear: There’s not a lot of space between the teams no matter what ranking system you want to use. On KenPom, the non-Fairfield teams are all between #24 and #114. That span gets tighter on T-Rank’s projections, with everyone except for Fairfield coming in between #7 and #88. Maybe it really doesn’t matter what teams play in the first round as a result, because everyone is pretty evenly matched.</p>
<p id="yR8Cuy">Still, USC getting what appears to amount to a buy game as their first round while everyone else has to slog through a top 100 game seems wildly unfair.</p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/7/12/20691509/marquette-golden-eagles-basketball-orlando-invitational-bracket-davidson-wildcats-disney-worldBrewtown Andy2019-06-28T19:53:43-05:002019-06-28T19:53:43-05:00Time To Learn About MBB’s 2019-20 Non-Con Schedule
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<img alt="Robert Morris v Duke" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/F3cSjD67R6hl935WQjLiwosSlxE=/40x0:3928x2592/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64151373/467075402.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Bob Leverone/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>This is a pretty solid schedule. Even the games that might look a little iffy at a glance are pretty solid for this coming season.</p> <p id="B0AP8h">On Thursday, <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/">Marquette</a> men’s basketball announced the dates for five of their 2019-20 non-conference games and opponents for four of those. The reason for the mismatch in numbers there is that we already knew that Marquette was going to visit <a href="https://www.bringonthecats.com/">Kansas State</a> at some point as both a return bout to last year’s game in Milwaukee as well as part of the new scheduling agreement between the Big East and the Big 12. We just didn’t know when that game was going to be played. </p>
<p id="hgweaV">Here’s the five dates and opponents that we found out on Thursday:</p>
<p id="R1M2bz"><strong>Tuesday, November 5:</strong> <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/loyola-md-greyhounds">Loyola-Maryland</a><br><strong>Saturday, November 23:</strong> <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/robert-morris-colonials">Robert Morris</a><br><strong>Wednesday, December 4:</strong> <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/jacksonville-dolphins">Jacksonville</a><br><strong>Saturday, December 7:</strong> at Kansas State<br><strong>Tuesday, December 17:</strong> <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/grambling-st-tigers">Grambling State</a></p>
<p id="ZpkkdA">Those five games join <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/gavitt-tipoff-games/2019/5/28/18643282/marquette-golden-eagles-basketball-purdue-boilermakers-gavitt-tipoff-games-big-east-big-ten">Purdue</a>, <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/6/11/18661402/marquette-golden-eagles-basketball-schedule-wisconsin-badgers">Wisconsin</a>, <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2018/10/31/18047160/marquette-golden-eagles-basketball-advocare-invitational-walt-disney-world">the Orlando Invitational</a>, <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/6/27/18759652/marquette-golden-eagles-basketball-non-conference-schedule-north-dakota-state-bison">North Dakota State</a>, and <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/6/6/18655068/marquette-golden-eagles-basketball-non-conference-schedule-scheduling-central-arkansas-bears">Central Arkansas</a> on the MU schedule. The Orlando Invitational is the former Advocare Invitational or the former Old Spice Classic depending on how old you are. In either case, it’s the Thanksgiving weekend event at Walt Disney World. ESPN Events has yet to announce the bracket for this year’s tournament, so we don’t know who Marquette will open the event with, but <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2018/10/31/18047160/marquette-golden-eagles-basketball-advocare-invitational-walt-disney-world">we do know the other seven teams that will be there</a>, including Texas A&M and their new head coach with whom Marquette fans are very familiar.</p>
<p id="z0kijE">Let’s drop in what the schedule looks like so you can see it visually before we talk about the teams on the schedule and what we can expect from them in 2019-20.</p>
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<p id="a6tVd6">The green spots are the game days on the Marquette schedule, with the red spots marking out Finals Week at Marquette as well as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. What jumps out at me is that Marquette has a lot of time off in November. Days off between games before heading to Disney World: 7, 3, 5, 4. That seems pretty good for the team’s overall health, especially when they have to play three games in four days in Florida (Saturday’s an off day because of television time devoted to college football) and five games in 10 days capped off by the visit to K-State.</p>
<p id="hKgmMu">Let’s take a trip through Marquette’s five opponents that we haven’t talked about on this website yet. We’ll try to keep it moving a bit since there’s five teams to cover. There will be an opening info dump for each one and then whatever talking points seem important and relevant.</p>
<h1 id="tD2jZR">Loyola-Maryland</h1>
<p id="X4SVwm"><strong>2018-19 Record:</strong> 11-21, 7-11 Patriot League<br><strong>2018-19 Final KenPom Rank:</strong> #270<br><strong>Head Coach:</strong> Tavares Hardy, entering his second season at Loyola & overall<br><strong>2019-20 T-Rank Preseason Rank:</strong> #163, 4th in Patriot League<br><strong>All-Time Series:</strong> First ever meeting</p>
<p id="GvAIS5">Since Jimmy Patsos left after the 2012-13 season and Loyola moved from the MAAC to the Patriot League, the Greyhounds have been on a bit of a slide in terms of basketball quality. G.G. Smith never had them in the top 250 in KenPom in his tenure nor over .500 in league play, and Tavares Hardy’s first season was more of the same.</p>
<p id="l71D1Q">However, as you can see from the T-Rank projection for Loyola for 2019-20, things are expected to go upwards this year. Their two seniors last seasons were bit players in the rotation, and Hardy has all seven guys who averaged at least five points per game back from last season. That includes returning Brett Holcombe, who only played in Loyola’s first 12 games, but ended up starting the last five he played and was averaging 11 points and a team high six rebounds at the time. Hardy will have three seniors leading the way, including 6’4” guard <span>Andrew Kostecka</span>, who led the team with 21.4 points per game last year while shooting 38% from long range.</p>
<h1 id="6GI5J7">Robert Morris</h1>
<p id="lBkix4"><strong>2018-19 Record:</strong> 18-17, 11-7 NEC<br><strong>2018-19 Final KenPom Rank:</strong> #269<br><strong>Head Coach:</strong> Andy Toole, entering his 10th season (168-140)<br><strong>Head Coach KenPom Average:</strong> RMU averages #207 under Toole<br><strong>2019-20 T-Rank Preseason Rank:</strong> #237, #2 NEC<br><strong>All-Time Series:</strong> First ever meeting</p>
<p id="uupq5T">Alright, cool. This is a perfectly fine game to schedule. They generally speaking hover right around somewhere in the 200s in terms of national ranking, so that’s good. T-Rank expects them to finish 2nd in the Northeast Conference, which means by default that they’ll challenge for a conference title this coming season, which is also a good choice. Even better, just like Loyola-Maryland, Marquette has never played RMU before. I like playing teams that we’ve never seen before. That’s fun.</p>
<p id="pb2ScU">At a glance, Marquette shouldn’t have any difficulty beating Bobby Mo. However, if you look at one particular trend for the Colonials, they present an interesting test case for Steve Wojciechowski’s team. Somehow last year, Marquette was KenPom’s 32nd most efficient offense..... while finishing (just barely but still) in the bottom third in the country in offensive turnover rate. They were REALLY bad at keeping track of the ball..... and YEP, Andy Toole’s teams generally are really good at taking it away from you. Robert Morris has finished in the top 20 of defensive turnover rate each of the last four seasons, and under the tutelage of Toole, they’ve only been outside the top 40 once. They might not be ranked around there when they come to Milwaukee on 11/23 because it’ll be early, but it’s safe to say that they’ll be coached like a squad that will end up there.</p>
<h1 id="QCXskH">Jacksonville</h1>
<p id="HigFFl"><strong>2018-19 Record:</strong> 12-20, 5-11 ASun<br><strong>2018-19 Final KenPom Rank:</strong> #247<br><strong>Head Coach:</strong> Tony Jasick, entering his 6th season at JU & 9th overall (122-139, 70-92 at JU)<br><strong>Head Coach KenPom Average:</strong> JU averages #290.6 under Jasick<br><strong>2019-20 T-Rank Preseason Rank:</strong> #315, 9th and last in ASun<br><strong>All-Time Series:</strong> Marquette leads, 2-0<br><strong>Last Meeting:</strong> November 28, 2011, with <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2011/11/28/2595377/another-cupcake-down-16-16-marquette-88-jacksonville-56">#16 Marquette winning 88-56</a></p>
<p id="BsjjLe">Ordinarily, I’d give the Jacksonville game a thumbs up in terms of quality and move on. They were (essentially) #250 in KenPom last year! Can’t beat mid-200s exactly! That’s fine!</p>
<p id="D6Ta03">However, we’ve got T-Rank’s preseason projections to peek at, and, uh, well, T-Rank hates hates the ‘Phins a bit. Like, sub-300 and DFL in the ASun hate. See, they’re losing their top two scorers, one to transfer and one to graduation. Their #5 scorer is out the door, too. That’s probably a bad combination relative to being better than 5-11 in league play <em>with</em> those guys.</p>
<p id="qA3QZh">Tony Jasick doesn’t appear to have any definitive year to year style to his teams, at least not in the category of “well, they always do this well.” They don’t even have a consistent tempo from year to year. I guess the good news is that Jasick will lean towards whatever he thinks the strength of his teams is in a particular season. For the purposes of an at-a-glance preview like this, that’s not helpful, but thankfully we don’t have to write a real preview of J’Ville until early December.</p>
<h1 id="D6ax4b">Kansas State</h1>
<p id="kZpsrD"><strong>2018-19 Record:</strong> 25-9, 14-4 Big 12<br><strong>2018-19 Final KenPom Rank:</strong> #20<br><strong>Head Coach</strong>: Bruce Weber, entering his 8th season at KSU, 22nd season overall (150-89 at KSU, 463-244 overall) <br><strong>Head Coach KenPom Average:</strong> KSU averages #42.9 under Weber<br><strong>2019-20 T-Rank Preseason Rank:</strong> #42, 7th in the Big 12<br><strong>All-Time Series:</strong> Kansas State leads, 7-4<br><strong>Last Meeting:</strong> December 1, 2018, as <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2018/12/1/18121489/marquette-golden-eagles-basketball-recap-kansas-state-wildcats-markus-howard-45-points">Marquette defeated #12 Kansas State, 83-71</a></p>
<p id="kmyFix">It seems that Marquette and Kansas State both made a coldly calculated move in scheduling this home-and-home series in this order. Marquette was the team with big questions heading into last season while K-State was the team that was on the verge of a Final Four appearance the year before with most of their dudes coming back, so it made sense for the 2018-19 game to be in Milwaukee from both ends.</p>
<p id="S056MB">This season was looking to be <em>the</em> season for Marquette, while it appears that the Wildcats are taking an expected step backwards from tying Texas Tech for the Big 12 title. Thus, it makes sense that the game will be in Manhattan this time around, even with MU not being quite the juggernaut that we might have been expecting, say, back on February 1.</p>
<p id="iloPhc">Still, Marquette’s loaded up with experienced talent, while K-State is dealing with the loss of their top three scorers who doubled as their top three assist men. Included in that trio is <span>Dean Wade</span>, who led the team in rebounding. That’s a lot to deal with in one offseason, especially in a knife fight conference like the Big 12. Odds are against them being over .500 in league play, unless <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2018/11/30/18118475/marquette-golden-eagles-kansas-state-wildcats-basketball-bruce-weber-big-12">Bruce Weber suddenly becomes a much better coach than we thought last December</a>. There’s a chance that Marquette actually isn’t favored heading into this game when early December rolls around purely because of home court advantage in The Octagon, but we’ll have to wait and see.</p>
<h1 id="bOhwCz">Grambling State</h1>
<p id="44LrHc"><strong>2018-19 Record:</strong> 17-17, 10-8 SWAC<br><strong>2018-19 Final KenPom Rank:</strong> #268<br><strong>Head Coach:</strong> Donte Jackson, entering his 3rd season at GSU, 10th overall (34-31, 160-94)<br><strong>Head Coach KenPom Average:</strong> GSU averages #281.5 in Jackson’s 2 years<br><strong>2019-20 T-Rank Preseason Rank:</strong> #189, 1st in SWAC<br><strong>All-Time Series:</strong> Marquette leads, 5-0<br><strong>Last Meeting:</strong> December 2, 2015, as <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2015/12/2/9838752/the-quick-and-dirty-marquette-95-grambling-state-49-recap">Marquette won, 95-49</a></p>
<p id="SbFR4J">I’m not going to hide from this: I always always <em>always</em> will tell you that I never want to see Marquette schedule any team from the SWAC or the MEAC. They are, essentially, always the bottom two conferences in the country. By scheduling a team from one of those leagues, you’re 1) damaging your NET number, 2) not helping your team by even remotely challenging them, and 3) not selling any extra tickets.</p>
<p id="NXlLNo">This, however, appears to be an exception to the rule. Grambling is coming off a decent season after winning a regular season title the year before. The Tigers had no seniors last season, and as such, they’re the T-Rank favorite to win the SWAC. If you <em>have</em> to schedule a SWAC team — and while I doubt that you ever <em>have</em> to, I understand MU is in a weird position as far as dates go with renting Fiserv Forum — I suppose that scheduling the expected favorite to win the SWAC is the way to go. Not only are the Tigers the favorite to win the league, T-Rank projects them as the only SWAC team to be in the top 200 in the country. Heck, they’re the only one projected in the top 280, which tells you a thing or two about their ability to win the SWAC next season. </p>
<p id="IsOPVI">On top of that, GSU head coach (and Milwaukee native!) Donte Jackson seems to be coaching a very specific type of defense. Grambling may have only ranked #165 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency last season, but they were #10 in effective field goal percentage, and top 25 in both two-point and three-point shooting percentage. They’re essentially going to be running the same team out there this season, so they might be sneaky good on defense and an interesting test for Marquette coming out of finals week.</p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/6/28/19095215/marquette-golden-eagles-mens-basketball-non-conference-schedule-loyola-robert-morris-jacksonvilleBrewtown Andy2019-06-27T07:45:00-05:002019-06-27T07:45:00-05:00Marquette Will Host North Dakota State
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<img alt="North Carolina Central v North Dakota State" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Kpj-0pd6lR26uC9bEy8qeFn84jY=/0x0:4643x3095/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64140024/1137174627.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>That’s a nice little non-conference game for the Golden Eagles.</p> <p id="wemyZQ">North Dakota State has been rolling out their non-conference schedule over the past week or so. On Wednesday morning, they announced that they’ll be coming to Milwaukee on Friday, December 20th to face off with YOUR <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/">Marquette Golden Eagles</a>.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Bison will take on Marquette — a potential preseason Top 25 team — on Dec. 20 this season. <a href="https://t.co/059QQiyL3m">pic.twitter.com/059QQiyL3m</a></p>— NDSU Basketball (@NDSUmbb) <a href="https://twitter.com/NDSUmbb/status/1143879535215222784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2019</a>
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<p id="FFYMEe">This is an well executed bit of scheduling by Steve Wojciechowski and his staff. </p>
<p id="h7bc4x">If we take a global view of NDSU’s history since joining Division 1 in 2006, the lowest they’ve ever finished in the KenPom rankings is #242. They’ve only been below #200 twice, and to be clear, one of those times was last season.</p>
<p id="mNCDzm"><em>HOWEVER</em></p>
<p id="2AxpcK">While they racked up a record of 17-16 against Division 1 opponents and 9-7 in the Summit League, Dave Richman’s squad ended up winning the conference tournament and thus earned the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. They beat North Carolina Central in Dayton and then got buzzsawed by Duke as a #16 seed. That happens.</p>
<p id="Bl4qBh">The key here is that NDSU did all of that without a single senior contributing to the team. They lost their #3 scorer to transfer, but you’d like to think that they can replace 9.6 points per game fairly easily. Other than that, everyone from that NCAA tournament team returns in 2019-20. T-Rank already has preseason projections put together, and it has North Dakota State at #141 in the country and the favorite in the Summit League. They’re the only top 150 team in the Summit League and one of three top 200 squads. </p>
<p id="xdk5OA">In short: North Dakota State looks like a team that brings back almost all of their experience from a slightly surprising conference title and NCAA Tournament run and as such, are favored to win the league. If you can find a way to identify a clear projected favorite in a conference like the Summit League and put them on your schedule, you do it every single time and twice on Sunday. </p>
<p id="cqDmps">As you probably guessed from their #3 scorer averaging 9.6 points, Dave Richman’s squads aren’t exactly in a hurry. He’s never had a team in the top 250 in tempo per KenPom and has been sub-300 three times in his five years, including last season. Generally speaking, they don’t turn the ball over much and they avoid gathering offensive rebounds. Over the past two years, NDSU’s offense has resembled Marquette’s a bit, as they’ve ranked in the top 90 in three -point shooting percentage and top 50 in three-point attempt rate.</p>
<p id="cYE1Fu">On defense, the Bison aren’t going to turn you over. They were literally the third worst Division 1 team in defensive turnover rate last year, which is on track in terms of how Richman generally coaches his team. They clean the defensive glass very well and they don’t let you get to the free throw line, either. </p>
<p id="CtvPsL">After the North Dakota State news got out, Marquette announced that they would be making the full 2019-20 non-conference schedule public on Thursday. We already know the dates and opponents for four of Marquette’s games: home dates against Purdue, Central Arkansas, and North Dakota State, and a road game against Wisconsin. We know MU will be in the Orlando Invitational over Thanksgiving weekend, but we don’t know the official bracket for that yet. We also know that a road trip to see Kansas State is on the schedule as both a return date on last year’s game at Fiserv Forum as well as Marquette’s first entry in the Big East/Big 12 series, but we don’t know when that game will be. With the Wisconsin game moving off of its traditional early December date, I have to presume that’s to create space for K-State, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.</p>
<p id="wf4oZe">When the schedule is announced on Thursday, don’t expect any big name games. Anything big and major would have been reported on at this point.</p>
<p id="eysmI3">Here’s what the calendar spacing for Marquette looks like right now. Green days are game days and red days are days that we can guarantee that MU won’t be playing either due to known games or finals week.</p>
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https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/6/27/18759652/marquette-golden-eagles-basketball-non-conference-schedule-north-dakota-state-bisonBrewtown Andy2019-06-11T11:17:49-05:002019-06-11T11:17:49-05:00Marquette To Visit Wisconsin On 11/17
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<img alt="NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-First Round-Oregon vs Wisconsin" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1RPRpdlTxneccRIpvBXqQEuCOqk=/0x0:4142x2761/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63986691/usa_today_12398747.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The game shifts off its traditional December Saturday spot for the first time since 2002.</p> <p id="5LsEu3">When planning out the <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/">Marquette</a> men’s basketball non-conference schedule every summer, the safest bet has always been the game against <a href="https://www.buckys5thquarter.com/">Wisconsin</a>. It’s been on an early December Saturday every year since the 2002-03, and has in fact been the Saturday before Marquette’s final exams, wherever that ended up falling.</p>
<p id="W2Ut21">That won’t be the case in 2019-20. </p>
<p id="Yh961W">As the home team for this year’s game, Wisconsin announced the date for this coming season’s encounter on Tuesday morning: Sunday, November 17th, with tip-off set for Noon Central on FS1. </p>
<div id="wLNczO">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wisconsin vs. Marquette<br><br>Nov. 17 at the Kohl Center<br><br>Circle the date ✔️<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OnWisconsin?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OnWisconsin</a> <a href="https://t.co/oLcHF0UrRp">pic.twitter.com/oLcHF0UrRp</a></p>— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/BadgerMBB/status/1138460886694154240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2019</a>
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<p id="rLmfpQ">That’s the earliest scheduled meeting since the 1997-98 season. That year, Marquette opened the campaign with a 65-60 road win over the Badgers. It’s just the second time since the 1993-94 season where the two teams have not met in December. </p>
<p id="tfL2zX">According to <a href="https://twitter.com/MarquetteMBB/status/1138463477192941568">the official MU confirmation/announcement</a>, the scheduling change from the seemingly traditional spot was done to work things out relative to both teams’ non-conference slates. I can’t speak to Wisconsin’s schedule at all, but I suspect this might be relative to Marquette’s trip to Manhattan to play <a href="https://www.bringonthecats.com/">Kansas State</a> this coming year. That game will be part of the Big East/Big 12 challenge series, so MU has to go along with whatever schedule the other nine games are using. </p>
<p id="7s0hj6">This does mean that Marquette will play two Big Ten teams in the span of five days. <a href="https://www.hammerandrails.com/">Purdue</a> is coming to Fiserv Forum on November 13th <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/gavitt-tipoff-games/2019/5/28/18643282/marquette-golden-eagles-basketball-purdue-boilermakers-gavitt-tipoff-games-big-east-big-ten">as part of the Gavitt Games series</a>. Unless MU squeezes in a Friday night game, the Purdue and Wisconsin games will be back-to-back on the schedule as well. </p>
<p id="saJu03">There is an added bonus to slotting this game in at noon on a November Sunday, by the way. <a href="https://twitter.com/markstrot/status/1138462992440467457">Per Paint Touches Editor Emeritus Mark Strotman</a>, November 17th just so happens to be the bye week for the <a href="https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/">Green Bay Packers</a>. In short, Marquette and Wisconsin scheduled their yearly game in the window where the Packers would normally be playing were it not for the bye week. That’s brilliant work by both sides to get that done.</p>
<p id="aWqpCw">Marquette has won three of the last four games in the series against Wisconsin overall, as well as three of the last four in Madison. MU has won each of the last two meetings both overall and on the road. MU head coach Steve Wojciechowski is undefeated at the Kohl Center. </p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/6/11/18661402/marquette-golden-eagles-basketball-schedule-wisconsin-badgersBrewtown Andy2019-06-06T08:15:00-05:002019-06-06T08:15:00-05:00Central Arkansas Schedules Marquette
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<img alt="NCAA Basketball: Central Arkansas at Louisville" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ie1vdIVDPrln65ZDN2Ukon42FXY=/0x1039:2752x2874/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63961101/usa_today_11794643.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Hayden Koval is UCA’s leading returning scorer. | Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Hey, when it’s the Bears making the announcement, that’s how we’re phrasing the headline.</p> <p id="2krTHz">On Wednesday, <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/central-arkansas">Central Arkansas</a> announced their 2019-20 men’s basketball non-conference schedule. Because you either A) can put 1 and 1 together to get 2 or B) read the headline on this article, then you’ve already determined that <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/">Marquette</a> is on their slate. The Bears will be coming to Milwaukee and Fiserv Forum on Saturday, December 28, 2019.</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">To be the man, you gotta beat the man.<br><br> the non-conference slate!<br><br> 8 National Championships from 4 programs<br> 186 NCAA Tourneys<br> 32 Final Fours<br> 86 Sweet 16s<br> 52 Elite Eights<br><br>153 days ... get your ready!<br><br>Full schedule release coming tomorrow!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BearClawsUp?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BearClawsUp</a> <a href="https://t.co/vWvoDZzaCF">pic.twitter.com/vWvoDZzaCF</a></p>— UCA Men's Basketball (@UCAMBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/UCAMBB/status/1136411896557527040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2019</a>
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<p id="dfWobh">You might be most familiar with UCA as the collegiate home for Jordan Howard, the older brother of Marquette guard Markus Howard. However, the elder <span>Howard</span>’s senior season was in 2017-18, so this isn’t a situation of scheduling a team in order for the two brothers to face each other.</p>
<p id="PaDRw7">In fact, I’m not quite sure why this game is scheduled at all.</p>
<p id="IxY7RP">Central Arkansas is coming off a season where they went 14-19 overall and 8-10 in Southland Conference play. They lose their top scorer to graduation, but they do return the next four guys on the scoring sheet, led by <span>Hayden Koval</span> at 12.5 points per game. In theory, the Bears should be better with that many returning top end of the rotation players.</p>
<p id="GZmNr7">However.....</p>
<p id="gLlhQs">Well, we talk about not playing sub-300 teams an awful lot around here. There’s no upside to it. It just drags down your strength of schedule and various measuring metrics while not providing the paying public a game that they’re super interested in attending.</p>
<p id="yxCEsA">Central Arkansas finished 2018-19 ranked #302 on <a href="http://KenPom.com">KenPom.com</a>. </p>
<p id="5dx8f7">With the exception of <span>Jordan Howard</span>’s senior year, Central Arkansas has been a sub-300 KenPom team every year since 2013-14. They’ve been a Division 1 program since 2006-07, and they’ve had just four seasons above #300 in those 13 seasons. Odds are they’re going to be a sub-300 KenPom team again this year.</p>
<p id="u8O5YW">Look, I get the idea of going extra soft for this game. Here’s what the expected Marquette schedule looks like in terms of game days right now.</p>
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<p id="To0m4e">I’m guessing that there won’t be a game on the day after Christmas, so this will be Marquette’s first game back after all the players go home for the holiday. I get leaning towards the softer end of the schedule.</p>
<p id="OhW9rt">However, you get the same effect of playing #302 Central Arkansas if you schedule #252 UC Davis instead. Or #262 New Orleans. Or #272 UNC Wilmington. You get the idea.</p>
<p id="kqGD5t">Marquette pulled this same stunt last year with Southern coming out of the Christmas break, <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2018/5/10/17338304/marquette-golden-eagles-2018-19-basketball-non-conference-schedule-southern-jaguars">and I didn’t care for it then</a>, either. What did we get out of that game? <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2018/5/10/17338304/marquette-golden-eagles-2018-19-basketball-non-conference-schedule-southern-jaguars">A 43 point Marquette victory</a> where MU went on a 33-5 run in the first half to take a 47-15 lead and <span>Markus Howard</span> didn’t play in the final 15 minutes.</p>
<p id="rT0E7G">Clap hands, squeal for joy, etc.</p>
<p id="Y3RGXO">That’s five games scheduled for Marquette officially now, with the Kansas State game known but not assigned a date as of yet and the Wisconsin game presumably occupying its tradition December Saturday spot. We’re waiting on probably five more Marquette opponents, and hopefully they’re all a lot more interesting than Central Arkansas.</p>
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https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/6/6/18655068/marquette-golden-eagles-basketball-non-conference-schedule-scheduling-central-arkansas-bearsBrewtown Andy2019-05-28T17:30:53-05:002019-05-28T17:30:53-05:00Marquette To Host Purdue In The 2019 Gavitt Games
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<img alt="Iowa State v Purdue" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uPEp8_7JQNhmFejttYNhZBWjbGY=/0x237:3648x2669/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63910552/654990696.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>I don’t even want to know what Pete is doing here. | Photo by Jonthan Daniel/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>No, this is not an article from 2017. </p> <p id="WFOSTI">On Tuesday afternoon, everyone’s favorite schedule news maven did what he does best and tip everyone off about some college basketball non-conference schedule news.</p>
<p id="0wQsF9">According to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, the 2019 Gavitt Tipoff Games lineup is set. Mr. “THIS IS MARCH” says that <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/">Marquette</a> will be involved, and they will be playing host to <a href="https://www.hammerandrails.com/">Purdue</a>.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sources: Matchups for the 2019 Gavitt Games are set.<br><br>Villanova at Ohio State<br>Michigan State at Seton Hall<br>Creighton at Michigan<br>Purdue at Marquette<br>Providence at Northwestern<br>Penn State at Georgetown<br>Minnesota at Butler<br>DePaul at Iowa</p>— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1133461119249584128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2019</a>
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<p id="aGh2hC">For those of you who are smart and intelligent people (that’s all of you, because that describes everyone who would read a good internet site like this one), you’re already saying “Hey, wait one damn minute.” Run with that emotion, because you are 100% correct: Marquette has already played Purdue in the Gavitt Games, and to top that off, the game was in Milwaukee.</p>
<p id="xzoBZA">The Gavitt Games series has an eight year cycle. Marquette is going to play in six of those years. This is Year Five, and instead of giving Marquette one of the 10 non-Wisconsin Big Ten teams that they haven’t played previously, someone in the decision making office decided to just go with one a second time. I actually feel really bad for Purdue here, because they’re only going to make four appearances in the Gavitt Games, and (theoretically) both of their road trips have now been spent in Milwaukee.</p>
<p id="3mXx1s">I say this with 100% sincerity: I would have rather seen Marquette scheduled against Rutgers. </p>
<p id="9NzQTV">Yes, even if the game was at the RAC.</p>
<p id="cEb0cX">Hopefully Jon Rothstein is back in his <a href="http://archive.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/373885981.html">“Marquette vs Utah”</a> stash and this is all horribly wrong.</p>
<p id="UkTmwU"><em><strong>UPDATE:</strong></em> Rothstein is NOT wrong, and also we now have a game date: November 13th.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mubb?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#mubb</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Sacar_Anim15?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sacar_Anim15</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/EMMORROW_30?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EMMORROW_30</a> will host <a href="https://twitter.com/BoilerBall?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BoilerBall</a> in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GavittTipoffGames?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GavittTipoffGames</a> at <a href="https://twitter.com/FiservForum?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FiservForum</a> on Nov. 13. <a href="https://t.co/YxnLQYSCbq">https://t.co/YxnLQYSCbq</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BIGEAST40?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BIGEAST40</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BIGEASTMBB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BIGEASTMBB</a> <a href="https://t.co/Tafs2vCyei">pic.twitter.com/Tafs2vCyei</a></p>— Marquette Basketball (@MarquetteMBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarquetteMBB/status/1133802138910515200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2019</a>
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<p id="jkgWiW">Here’s the rest of the lineup, according to Rothstein:</p>
<p id="4wMxZK"><a href="https://www.vuhoops.com/">Villanova</a> at <a href="https://www.landgrantholyland.com/">Ohio State</a><br><a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/creighton-bluejays">Creighton</a> at <a href="https://www.maizenbrew.com/">Michigan</a><br><a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/providence-friars">Providence</a> at <a href="https://www.insidenu.com/">Northwestern</a><br><a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/depaul-blue-demons">DePaul</a> at <a href="https://www.blackheartgoldpants.com/">Iowa</a><br><a href="https://www.theonlycolors.com/">Michigan State</a> at <a href="https://www.southorangejuice.com/">Seton Hall</a><br><a href="https://www.blackshoediaries.com/">Penn State</a> at <a href="https://www.casualhoya.com/">Georgetown</a><br><a href="https://www.thedailygopher.com/">Minnesota</a> at <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/butler-bulldogs">Butler</a></p>
<p id="dWKwiI">As for the Marquette-Purdue matchup, well, the Boilermakers are probably going to be pretty good in 2019-20. <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/rankings/top25/">Gary Parrish from CBS Sports has Purdue at #18 in his preseason top 25 and 1</a> which was updated following RJ Hampton’s decision to head to the NBL instead of college basketball earlier in the day on Tuesday. So that’s a very up to date decision by Parrish there. </p>
<p id="Pr2zW7">Purdue is coming off of an Elite Eight run that ended in an overtime loss to eventual national champions Virginia, and yes, they’re losing <span>Carsen Edwards</span> and <span>Ryan Cline</span>, their top two scorers. Edwards did a whole hell of a lot for the Boilermakers last season, finishing the year at #3 in the <a href="http://KenPom.com">KenPom.com</a> Player of the Year rankings. Head coach Matt Painter will have to figure out a way to redistribute things a bit, but Purdue has won at least 25 games in each of the past four seasons. I trust him to be able to put a handle on it. His recruiting class for 2019 isn’t anything particularly jaw-dropping, but if Painter ends up with a team that’s better than the sum of its parts, then Purdue should be able to find their way into the NCAA tournament yet again.</p>
<p id="6hX8Aa"><a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2014/5/23/5732292/marquette-basketball-big-east-big-ten-gavitt-tipoff-games-purdue">You can read more about the all-time Marquette-Purdue series in the Gavitt Tipoff Games look ahead we wrote back in 2014</a>, but here’s the big takeaway: MU is 0-9 all time against Purdue after <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2017/11/14/16654174/marquette-golden-eagles-purdue-boilermakers-recap-haas-howard-rowsey">the 86-71 loss at the Bradley Center in November 2017</a>. </p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/gavitt-tipoff-games/2019/5/28/18643282/marquette-golden-eagles-basketball-purdue-boilermakers-gavitt-tipoff-games-big-east-big-tenBrewtown Andy