The Marquette Golden Eagles open their season outdoors tonight in Charleston, S.C. It's an odd start to a season, sure, but they're also going to be playing aboard the flight deck of the U.S.S. Youngstown in the Carrier Classic. Not only that, their opponent is the No. 4 team in the country, Ohio State.
It's a heck of a way to start a season, but it's just the tip of a scheduling iceberg for the Golden Eagles. During the program's non-conference schedule from Nov. 9 through Dec. 22, the team will play three teams ranked in the pre-season top 25 (Ohio St., No. 10 Florida, No. 21 Wisconsin) and likely a fourth in No. 12 North Carolina in the Maui Invitational.
Then there's Butler, national runner-ups in 2010 and 2011, which received votes for the Top 25. And, the Golden Eagles travel to UW-Green Bay, a team that returns all five starters and is picked third in the Horizon League.
Whew.
For head coach Buzz Williams, this schedule is part of the double-edged sword that comes from being a consistent, winning program over a period of years. Invitations to the Maui Invitational and the Carrier Classic don't come if you're not a recognizable team with a history of success – and predicted future success. The conference wouldn't want to highlight you against Florida in the SEC/Big East Challenge if it didn't think your team would be up for it.
It is a lot though, especially in advance of the Big East season.
"When you combine all of that and put it into one year, is that the right thing? I don't know," Williams said. "I know that our nature is to want to compete against the best, but it's really not the games relative to who you're playing, it's all the things lead up to those games and the grind that it is on you emotionally and mentally, not just the players but everybody."
Williams pointed out the logistical nightmare the first part of the season creates, with little rest between many of those contests.
"It's not just the games," Williams said. "It's all the things that lead up to the games that I think makes it difficult."
The players, of course, view it differently.
"That's the best thing," guard Vander Blue said of his schedule. "You don't come to Division I to play people you can beat. At this level, I want to play all the hard teams. I wish we could play top 25 teams all year. Those are the games that matter. If you schedule games you know you're going to win that really doesn't help the team in the long run. I feel like coach has done a great job of scheduling us against the hard opponents. Ohio State right off the bat? I feel like a lot of teams can't say they're doing that."
Blue continued: "A lot of teams might schedule a DIII team or something like that so they can get a win but it doesn't get you any better. Our whole goal is to get better every single night we step on the court, individually and as a team. I feel like those heavy games early are going to help us."
Marquette hopes it helps when the calendar turns to 2013 and it hosts Connecticut on New Year's Day. The conference will go out with a bang, as Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame are headed to different conferences next season. Temple, Memphis, Houston, Southern Methodist and Central Florida will join the league.
Louisville enters the season as the No. 2 team in the country and the favorite to win the conference. Syracuse opens the season at No. 9 while Notre Dame is No. 23.
"The Big East is, in my mind, without a doubt the best conference in the country," said Marquette guard Trent Lockett, who transferred from Arizona State in the PAC-12.
Marquette is coming off back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances and received top 25 votes in the year's first poll, but the Big East coaches picked the Golden Eagles seventh in the conference. The team also did not have a player voted onto any of the three Preseason All-Big East teams.
Williams, who conceded his team could be below .500 by the time it hits December, hopes that this tough schedule sets the team up for success in the conference.
"You hope that by doing that it prepares you to play the Big East and just as important, you hope that it prepares you for something that you will encounter in the postseason as well," Williams said. "Is it the right thing or the wrong thing? For your coaching career record, it's the wrong thing. For the development of who your team is, it's probably the right thing."
Meet and interact with the 2012-13 Golden Eagles on the next page.
Meet and interact with the 2012-13 Golden Eagles
Buzz Williams, Head Coach Juan Anderson (So., F) Vander Blue (Jr., G) Junior Cadougan (Sr., G) Jamal Ferguson (Fr., G) Dylan Flood (So., G) Davante Gardner (Jr., F) Trent Lockett (Sr., G) Todd Mayo (So., G) Chris Otule (Sr., C) Garrett Swanson (So., F) Steve Taylor, Jr. (Fr., F) Jake Thomas (Jr., G) Derrick Wilson (So., G) Jamil Wilson (Jr., F)
Need to know: The Golden Eagles have made back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances and four straight NCAA berths.
Twitter: @juanonjuan10
Need to know: Seems to have recovered from offseason shoulder surgery. Played in 24 games last year.
Twitter: @Vander13lue
Need to know: Started 34 of 35 games and averaged 8.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
Twitter: @JRwontLOSE
Need to know: Started 33 of 34 games and averaged 5.4 assists per game.
Need to know: Rivals' No. 31 recruit averaged 17 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists as a senior at Maury High School in Virginia.
Twitter: @imdtf24
Need to know: Made the roster as a walk-on.
Twitter: @iGetBuckets_54
Need to know: In 27 games averaged 9.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
Twitter: @T_Lockett22
Need to know: Is a graduate student at Marquette, is a very good rebounding guard.
Twitter: @DaOtherRealDeal
Need to know: Ruled academically ineligible for the season.
Twitter: @Tule42
Need to know: Coming off ACL injury, says knee and feet are healthy.
Need to know: Ineligible to play this year due to NCAA transfer rules. Coming from Idaho State.
Need to know: Played on three straight Illinois state championship teams at Simeon High School. Team went 63-3 his last two years as a starter.
Twitter: @JakeThomasTwo3
Need to know: Eligible to play for first time after sitting out a year due to transfer rules. Is eighth all-time in South Dakota history for 3-pointers.
Twitter: @Mr_Bicenten
Need to know: Appeared in 33 games, had 19 steals.
Twitter: @Jamil_Wilson
Need to know: Averaged 7.1 points in 34 games (15 starts).
Jim Owczarski is an award-winning sports journalist and comes to Milwaukee by way of the Chicago Sun-Times Media Network.
A three-year Wisconsin resident who has considered Milwaukee a second home for the better part of seven years, he brings to the market experience covering nearly all major and college sports.
To this point in his career, he has been awarded six national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for investigative reporting, feature writing, breaking news and projects. He is also a four-time nominee for the prestigious Peter J. Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism, presented by the Chicago Headline Club, and is a two-time winner for Best Sports Story. He has also won numerous other Illinois Press Association, Illinois Associated Press and Northern Illinois Newspaper Association awards.
Jim's career started in earnest as a North Central College (Naperville, Ill.) senior in 2002 when he received a Richter Fellowship to cover the Chicago White Sox in spring training. He was hired by the Naperville Sun in 2003 and moved on to the Aurora Beacon News in 2007 before joining OnMilwaukee.com.
In that time, he has covered the events, news and personalities that make up the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, NCAA football, baseball and men's and women's basketball as well as boxing, mixed martial arts and various U.S. Olympic teams.
Golf aficionados who venture into Illinois have also read Jim in GOLF Chicago Magazine as well as the Chicago District Golfer and Illinois Golfer magazines.
