It’s not just NMD, it’s also the first day of February, aka the first day of the month before March.
Happy National Marquette Day, everyone!
Given that it’s both National Marquette Day and the first day of February, it felt like a good time to take a snapshot of how the internet in general is assessing YOUR Marquette Golden Eagles men’s basketball team in terms of the NCAA tournament next month. It feels like we don’t need to keep a regular eye on where the Golden Eagles are landing in bracket projections this season, given that they’ve been ranked in every week of the AP top 25 poll and have stayed in the top 10 since just before Thanksgiving. I know, I know, the AP poll isn’t connected to bracket selection in any way, but it’s definitely a quick shorthand for “these teams are assuredly safe to get an at-large bid.”
Before we get into the projections, let’s peek at what the NCAA tournament profile is for Marquette as of the morning of February 1, 2025.
Record: 18-3, 9-1 Big East
NET Ranking: #15
Vs Quadrant 1 Opponents: 5-2
Vs Quadrant 2: 6-1
Vs Quadrant 3: 3-0
Vs Quadrant 4: 4-0
As things stand right now — remember, teams can slide up and down in the NET and thus change their quadrant location — Marquette has five Quadrant 1 games remaining, along with two Quadrant 2 games, two Quadrant 3 games, and one Quadrant 4 game. Seton Hall, we are going to need you to get from #192 to at least #160. Thank you.
Alrighty, let’s get to the projections!
SB Nation (1/31)
We don’t have to go far to find where Chris Dobbertean has the Golden Eagles. They pop up right in the first region that he lists, which is the South region. Marquette is the #2 seed in the region, trailing along behind #1 seed Auburn. Bracketing gets Marquette paired with #15 seed Central Connecticut, holding down the automatic bid out of the NEC, and they’re sent off to Cleveland for their first round game. The potential second round matchups here would be #7 Mississippi State and #10 Baylor.
As far as bracket organizing goes, Marquette is the Big East’s automatic bid here, which isn’t anything more complicated than “has the best NET ranking right now.” Three more teams get into the field: Creighton (#7), UConn (#7), and St. John’s (#8). That’s in seed order, by the way. Yes, Creighton is in better shape right now than the Huskies or the Red Storm. Xavier is the #4 team out of the field.
ESPN (1/31)
I suspect we’re going to see a lot of Marquette as a #2 seed as we go through this. That’s where Joe Lunardi has the Golden Eagles, but he has them paired off with #15 seed Bryant out of the America East Conference. Marquette is in the Midwest region here, but still going to Cleveland for the first round. The potential second round opponents are #7 Missouri and #10 Pittsburgh.
There are three more Big East teams in the field: #7 St. John’s, #8 UConn, and #9 Creighton. Xavier is the first team out of the field.
CBS Sports (1/31)
#2 seed for Marquette here from Jerry Palm, and we go back to the South Region. This time it’s Jacksonville as the #15 seed out of the ASUN, and it’s a first round game in Wichita. The Golden Eagles are paired off with potential second round opponents #7 Michigan and #10 Saint Mary’s here.
There are three more Big East teams in the field: #7 Creighton, #8 St. John’s, and #9 UConn.
The Athletic ($) (1/28)
Joe Rexrode takes over bracketing duties at The Athletic this year. He’s got Marquette in the East Region right now, although I’m pretty sure the Golden Eagles would prefer to be the #2 seed in the Midwest and flip spots with #2 Florida over there. If everything breaks right, that would mean a Sweet 16 game in Indianapolis instead of Newark, and you can see the inherent value for MU fans there. In any case, it’s #15 seed Bryant on the other side of a first round game in Cleveland here, with #7 Texas Tech and #10 Texas as the potential second round opponents.
There are three more Big East teams in the field: #7 UConn, #8 St. John’s, and #9 Creighton. Xavier is the third team out of the field.
Fox Sports (1/31)
Mike DeCourcy doesn’t do full bracketing with first round locations, so all we get here is Marquette as the #2 seed in the Midwest with a first round game against #15 Central Connecticut. He’s also not doing a very good job of assembling his bracket according to official NCAA rules, because he’s got a potential second round game against either #7 UCLA (that’s fine) or #10 UConn. Yeah. That’s not happening, especially if MU and UConn meet in the Big East tournament. The other #10 seeds are New Mexico, San Diego State, and Ohio State, and I’d be thrilled to play Not Ohio State if MU gets shipped to Cleveland for the first two rounds.
There are three more Big East teams in the field: #6 St. John’s, #8 Creighton, and the aforementioned #10 UConn. Xavier makes into the First Four Out, but I had to read what DeCourcy typed out as words and not just look at a graphic to figure this out. What is this world coming to.
Cracked Sidewalks (2/1)
Our friend Alan Bykowski is a real sicko, you know that? Check this out: He’s got Marquette as a #2 seed (fine) in the South Region (sure) and headed to Cleveland for the first round (checks out) for a game against….. drumroll please…… #15 seed Milwaukee out of the Horizon League.
Look, I’m sure that’s just a bracketing process thing, where MU’s spot and UWM’s spot just line up perfectly for that to happen and Alan said “huh!” and just rolled with it. BUT STILL. The funny part? Milwaukee’s in as the top NET team in the Horizon League. Cleveland State has a two game lead in the standings right now. Anyway. Second round opponents project as either #7 Michigan or #10 Baylor here.
There are three more Big East teams in the field: #7 St. John’s, #8 Creighton, and #9 UConn. Xavier is the fifth team out of the field.
Haslametrics (2/1)
This is an algorithmic projection for the tournament, but this is “if the tournament started today.” Marquette is the third best #2 seed here alongside Iowa State, Houston, and Michigan State. The 15 seeds are Milwaukee, Northern Colorado, Lipscomb, and Central Connecticut. It occurs to me that it’s slightly silly to point out the #15 seeds because the conference tournaments that decide the bottom 14 or so seeds are going to spit out some crazy results, because of course they will.
There are three more Big East teams in the field: #7 St. John’s, #8 Creighton, and #10 UConn. Xavier is the first team out of the field.
T-Ranketology NOW (2/1)
This computer generated field comes to us from BartTorvik.com, and same as Haslametrics, this is if the tournament started today. The NOW should have tipped you off.
Marquette is a #3 seed here in a…. well, I’m not going to call it a refreshing change, but it’s something different. They’re the best #3 seed, alongside Purdue, Kentucky, and Kansas here. A #3 seed would get a #14 seed as a first round game, and those options would be Samford, South Dakota State, High Point, and UNC Wilmington here.
There are three more Big East teams in the field: #7 St. John’s, #8 Creighton, and #9 UConn. Xavier is the fifth team out of the field. Because it’s the internet and there’s no reason not to just keep chugging along: Georgetown is #27 out, Villanova is #28, Providence is #37, Butler is #59, DePaul is #81, and Seton Hall is #146.
Bracket Matrix (1/31)
As always, we close with the compilation of every bracket available on the internet. Bracket Matrix is always ever so slightly behind because your bracket has to be published at the moment that the site is updated in order to be available, but that’s counted by seeing the composite of 89 brackets.
Marquette is the last #2 seed here, alongside Florida, Tennessee, and Houston. The #15 seeds here are Cleveland State, William & Mary, Bryant, and Norfolk State. May as well say it: If Marquette were to get William & Mary, that will be one of the most high profile first round games because W&M has never made the NCAA tournament and is one of three founding members of the Never Made The Tournament Club.
There are three more Big East teams in the field: #6 St. John’s, #8 Creighton, and #8 UConn. Yes, the Matrix has Creighton ahead of UConn, although when rounding to two decimal places, they’re tied with an average seed of 8.18. Xavier appeared on four of the 89 brackets as a #11 seed each time.
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