Grabbing a snapshot right before everyone adjusts their brackets based on what the NCAA selection committee says the top 16 teams are at the moment seems important.
It is MUCH later than I was planning on Friday night, but “Friday night” is still before “Saturday afternoon,” and that’s all that matters here. On Saturday afternoon, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament selection committee will partner with CBS Sports to reveal what teams are holding the top 16 seeds in the field of 68 right now.
With that in mind, not to mention the fact that Marquette Golden Eagles has the weekend off, it seems like a very good time to see what the Internet At Large has to say about where the Golden Eagles are in bracket projections right now. When we did this two weeks ago heading into National Marquette Day, MU was generally speaking a #2 seed. Since then, MU lost three straight games, albeit to teams that seem on the path to the NCAA tournament themselves.
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 February 14th:
Record: 19-6, 10-4 Big East
NET Ranking: #23
Vs Quadrant 1 Opponents: 5-4
Vs Quadrant 2: 6-2
Vs Quadrant 3: 4-0
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 3 Quadrant 1 games remaining along with one Quadrant 2 game, one Quadrant 3 game, and yes, one Quadrant 4 game. That’s Tuesday’s home game against #223 Seton Hall, and seeing as the Pirates would have to get to #160 to be Q3 at home, I don’t expect anything to change on that one. BAD NEWS: They were at #192 on the morning of National Marquette Day.
Let’s get to the projections!
SB Nation (2/14)
As always, we start with our blog overlords, and Chris Dobbertean has Marquette as a #5 seed in the South region. Good news: They’re the best #5 seed on the board. In this arrangement, Marquette heads out to Seattle for the first round where they would get a first round game against #12 seed McNeese with a potential second round game against either #4 Michigan or #13 Yale.
There are four (!) more Big East teams in the bracket here: #4 St. John’s, #7 Creighton, #8 UConn, and #12 Villanova heading to the First Four.
ESPN (2/14)
I suspect the #5 seed is going to be a regular thing here. That’s where Joe Lunardi has Marquette, and he’s got the Golden Eagles in the South Region and headed to Seattle for the first round. Little bit of a change from the SB Nation bracket, as it’s UC San Diego as the #12 seed here. #4 Michigan State and #13 High Point are the potential second round opponents here.
There are three more Big East teams in the bracket here: #5 St. John’s, #7 Creighton, and #8 UConn. Xavier earns Next Four Out status here.
CBS Sports (2/13)
Jerry Palm goes with the East Region for the Golden Eagles here, even though it’s as the #5 seed headed to Seattle to play #12 McNeese in the first round. #4 Texas Tech or #13 Akron would be waiting in the second round, in theory.
There are three more Big East teams in the bracket here: #5 St. John’s, #7 Creighton, and #8 UConn.
The Athletic ($) (2/11)
Heeeeeey, look at fancy Joe Rexrode here. He’s got Marquette as the #3 seed in the East Region, and that gets them a first round game against #14 Towson. That game would be in Providence, and what do you think the chances are that Friars fans that got early access to tickets would cheer for their fellow Big East team there? The second round would end up being either #6 Missouri or #11 VCU, and you know the basketball gods would love to see Shaka Smart vs VCU.
There are three more Big East teams in the bracket here: #4 St. John’s, #6 UConn, and #7 Creighton.
Fox Sports (2/14)
Things continue to trend nicely for Marquette here, as Mike DeCourcy has the Golden Eagles as a #4 seed here. He doesn’t actually send anyone to first round locations, but this is in the West Region here. The second round would potentially mean a game against either #5 Memphis or #12 Akron.
There are three more Big East teams in the bracket here: #4 St. John’s, #7 Creighton, and #8 UConn.
Yahoo Sports/USA Today (2/14)
I’m not sure how this Yahoo/USA Today partnership works, but there are three people credited with this bracket. It’s obviously a very good partnership, because they have Marquette at #4 here. They’re headed out to Denver for a first round game in the West Region against #13 seed Arkansas State, and #5 Kansas or #12 McNeese would be waiting in the second round.
There are three more Big East teams in the bracket here: #4 St. John’s, #6 Creighton, and #7 UConn. Villanova gets First Four Out status here.
Cracked Sidewalks (2/12)
Friend Of The Show Alan Bykowski has Marquette at #18 on his overall seed list, which means he thinks we won’t hear MU’s name on Saturday during the seed reveal. The Golden Eagles get the favorable region draw here in the Midwest, but going to Indianapolis only happens if they win two games first. Marquette would be the favorite team of Kendrick Lamar as a #5 seed against #12 Drake, and the second round would line up as either #4 Arizona or #13 Arkansas State.
There are three more Big East teams in the bracket here: #3 St. John’s, #7 Creighton, and #9 UConn.
Haslametrics (2/14)
We turn our attention to what the computers say if the tournament started on Friday here, and this computer says Marquette is the best #5 seed in the field, coming out in front of Kansas, Maryland, and Missouri. The #12 seeds are Drake, UC San Diego, Liberty, and Yale, and I’ll tell you right now: I’d be completely fine with Marquette playing three of those four.
There are three more Big East teams in the bracket here: #4 St. John’s, #7 Creighton, and #8 UConn. Xavier turns up in the First Four Out here.
BartTorvik.com (2/14)
This computer is a Negative Nancy, slotting in Marquette at #6 if the tournament started Friday. At least it’s as the best #6 seed in front of UCLA, Michigan State, and Saint Mary’s. #6 gets you #11 as a first round opponent, and that could be Vanderbilt or Drake as well as a possible First Four team out of the group of BYU, Texas, Oklahoma, or San Diego State.
There are three more Big East teams in the bracket here: #5 St. John’s, #7 UConn, and #7 Creighton. Xavier is the fourth team out of the field here.
Bracket Matrix (2/13)
We have 106 projections in the data set right now, and they all average out Marquette at 4.55. However, that’s only good enough to be the best #5 seed right now, coming in front of Michigan, Ole Miss, and Illinois That would mean a first round game against UC San Diego, McNeese, or Yale. Yes, that’s only three #12 seeds because the fourth one is George Mason, and the committee wouldn’t book a regular season rematch in the first round.
There are three more Big East teams in the bracket here: #4 St. John’s, #7 Creighton, and #8 UConn. Xavier appears on one of the 106 brackets as a #11 seed.
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