The Sweater Vest is Best...This Year

A Marquette fan on his way to the big game.

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There have been a couple of interesting stories in the Journal Sentinel this week about the UW Badgers/Marquette Gold game tomorrow night.

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According to the Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin is going to have to prepare for a raucous Marquette crowd at the Bradley Center.

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And though some UW fans will get their hands on tickets, the Badgers will face a raucous pro-Marquette crowd as the Golden Eagles try to win consecutive games in this series for the first time since 1996 and '97.

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I'll admit there will be a lot of people there - but do folks wearing sweater vests and khakis make a lot of noise at the BC? We'll have to wait and see.

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Meanwhile, Marquette is talking itself up as the underdog for this game. Wesley Matthews elaborates:

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"We see ourselves as the underdogs," he said before practice Thursday. "We've got a short bench, a lot of people don't know about our coach and we're undersized. Just looking at it like that, we're seen as underdogs in the Big East just because of those three factors by themselves. And whenever we play a high-quality opponent, those factors will always come into play."

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I'm not buying this. Wisconsin is a very young team this year, with 5 guys in its rotation either freshmen or sophomores who got very little playing time last year. Marquette has 3 guards who have been starters for 4 years. So they don't have an inside presence - when is the last time they did have an inside presence? Jim McIlvaine? Oh yeah, and they're playing at home in front of their raucous fans. Plus, Wisconsin has shown that it has problems handling the press - won't Marquette, with all of its small guys, try to press UW to death? I would.

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I'm saying that this will be sort of like the UConn game - close for a while, but Marquette will pull away at the end and win by 10. 76-66 Marquette. Sweater vests rejoice.