Let’s see where the Golden Eagles are sitting heading into all the fun at Madison Square Garden this week.
The Big East tournament gets started with Butler and Providence on Wednesday afternoon, so it’s a pretty good time to take a swing around the Internet and see what kind of standing Marquette Golden Eagles has in terms of the NCAA tournament.
Yeah, that’s right, its time for a BRACKETOLOGY ROUND-UP!
Before we look at how the bracketologists are assessing Marquette right now, let’s start with some basic facts about MU’s resume as of the morning of March 12th:
Record: 22-9
NET Ranking: #25
Vs Quadrant 1 Opponents: 5-8
Vs Quadrant 2: 7-1
Vs Quadrant 3: 5-0
Vs Quadrant 4: 5-0
The good news since the last time we did this is that Marquette had a loss move from Q2 to Q1. Taking losses isn’t a good thing, obviously, but you’d rather have the best losses you possibly can have. Thursday’s quarterfinal game against Xavier will be a Quadrant 1 game as it is played, but the Musketeers are at #44 in the NET and the cutoff for neutral site games is 50. I doubt they would slide seven spots over a loss to Marquette, so it’s probably safe…… unlike Marquette’s home loss to UConn, as the #30 Huskies are currently exactly on the line between Q1 (1-30) and Q2 (31-75) for home games.
Let’s get to the projections!
SB Nation (3/12)
Our blog overlords start things off, as always, and Chris Dobbertean has Marquette as the #5 seed in the East Regional. That sends them off to Denver for a first round game against #12 seed VCU, and you know the broadcast of that game would make a big deal about Shaka Smart facing the Rams. The possible second round opponents there would be #4 Maryland or #13 Yale. I know Chris is much smarter than me when it comes to this stuff, so I’m merely surprised that there’s a possible rematch with the Terrapins on the table.
There are four more Big East teams in the field here: #3 St. John’s, #7 Creighton, #8 UConn, and #12 Xavier, although the Musketeers are in the Last Four In. Villanova is listed as the 12th team out of the field.
ESPN (3/11)
I should note that the update from Joe Lunard is dated March 11th, but it’s timestamped at 11:05 pm Eastern, so it is taking things into account from Tuesday night. Marquette stays in the East Region here, but it’s as the #7 seed. That means a first round game in Cleveland and #10 San Diego State on the other side of it. It also means a potential second round game against either #2 Tennessee or #15 Robert Morris.
There are four more Big East teams in the field here: #3 St. John’s, #8 UConn, #9 Creighton, and #12 Xavier, although the Musketeers are in the Last Four In.
CBS Sports (3/12)
More East Region action for Marquette here, although we get the comedy value of the Golden Eagles starting off in Seattle while in the East Region. They’re the #5 seed here, paired off with #12 UC San Diego. The potential second round game is once again #4 Maryland or #13 Lipscomb.
There are four more Big East teams in the field here: #3 St. John’s, #8 UConn, #8 Creighton, and #11 Xavier, although the Musketeers are in the Last Four In.
The Athletic ($) (3/10)
Joe Rexrode’s bracket is looking in from Monday morning, so keep that in mind. Marquette is a #7 seed here, and placed in the East Region. The #10 seed is Utah State, and now I’m having flashbacks to 2009. The second round possibilities in Cleveland here are #2 Tennessee or #15 Bryant.
There are three more Big East teams in the field here: #3 St. John’s, #8 UConn, #8 Creighton. Xavier is the first team out of the field of 68.
Fox Sports (3/11)
This one’s timestamped at 1:12pm Eastern on Tuesday, so it’s not quite as fresh as ESPN’s, but that’s fine. Fox and Mike DeCourcy have abandoned fun graphics and are just listings teams in seed order. Marquette is a #7 seed here, alongside Kansas, Illinois, and Ole Miss. The #10 seeds and thus the possible first round opponents are West Virginia, Utah State, San Diego State, and Arkansas.
There are four more Big East teams in the field here: #2 St. John’s, #8 UConn, #9 Creighton, and #11 Xavier, although the Musketeers are the last team into the field.
Cracked Sidewalks (3/12)
Friend of the Show Alan Bykowski published a brand new look at the bracket on Wednesday morning, and he’s got a ton of detail on potential opponents for Marquette. As to where they are in his field? #7 seed, but going to Cleveland in the South Region. Fun change of pace there, but it’s familiar face Utah State as the #10 seed. The potential second round game there is #2 Michigan State or #15 Robert Morris, and in case you were wondering: The 2024 Michigan State NCAA tourney game was in Columbus.
There are four more Big East teams in the field here: #2 St. John’s, #8 Creighton, #9 UConn, and #11 Xavier, although the Musketeers are the last team into the field.
Haslametrics (3/12)
This is where we turn our attention to what computers are saying about the tournament field. Marquette is a #6 seed here, alongside Illinois, BYU, and Arizona. That means a first round game against a #11 seed, and those are Oklahoma and VCU in the field cleanly as well as the winners of the First Four games. Those squads are Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio State, and Xavier, but MU would not be placed alongside the Musketeers.
There are four more Big East teams in the field here: #2 St. John’s, #8 UConn, #8 Creighton, and the aforementioned #11 Xavier in the Last Four In.
BartTorvik.com (3/12)
This is the “if the tournament started now” field from T-Rank, not the “what is projected to happen” field, although with conference tournament play underway, there’s not much different between the two any more. Marquette is a #7 seed here alongside Michigan, Gonzaga, and Louisville. That means a first round game against a #10 seed, and those are New Mexico, Baylor, Arkansas, and — sure, why not — Utah State.
There are four more Big East teams in the field here: #2 St. John’s, #8 UConn, #9 Creighton, and #11 Xavier, although the Musketeers are the best of the four teams going to Dayton as the Last Four In.
Bracket Matrix (3/11)
The thing to remember about Bracket Matrix is that while it’s great to get 109 brackets compiled into one place, it’s dragging slightly behind because it can only catch published brackets to put into the compilation. In any case, Marquette is a #7 seed here with an average seed of 6.88. They’re in the mix with Missouri, BYU, and Kansas, and the #10 seed possible first round opponents are Vanderbilt, Baylor, Arkansas, and — you guessed it — Utah State.
There are four more Big East teams in the field here: #2 St. John’s, #8 UConn, #9 Creighton, and #11 Xavier. The Musketeers are the last team into the field, and they only appear on 98 of the 109 projections.
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