You’d think that blowing a 12 point lead in seven minutes and change would do some damage to your postseason profile.
That doesn’t seem to be the case with Marquette this week, as they’re listed in the field of 68 in every single one of the bracketology reports that we checked and in a number of cases, they actually moved up a bit. It makes almost no sense, but it is what it is, I guess.
Here you go.....
ESPN (2/27/17): Marquette hasn’t moved from Joe Lunardi’s Last Four In since we checked last week, and they’re still slotted into a #11 seed. However, I’m not 100% sure that Lunardi’s bracketing principles are accurate here. You see, he has Providence, Seton Hall, and Vanderbilt as the other three teams headed to Dayton, and no matter how you slice that, it would be a regular season rematch game for the Golden Eagles. Maybe that’s allowed for Dayton, because it’s usually not allowed elsewhere in the field. The way Joey Brackets has it drawn up, Marquette would play Seton Hall in Dayton, with the winner advancing to a game against #6 Oklahoma State in Salt Lake City. The inclusion of the Friars and the Pirates gives the Big East seven teams in the field, along with #1 Villanova, #4 Butler, #6 Creighton, and #9 Xavier.
CBS (2/28/17): The Golden Eagles have moved into Jerry Palm’s field of 68 after being out in the last few iterations. They’re headed to the First Four here as well, paired up with Rhode Island to decide which #11 seed gets to play #6 SMU in Orlando. #1 Villanova, #3 Butler, #6 Creighton, #10 Xavier, #10 Seton Hall, and #11 Providence give the Big East seven teams in the CBS bracket as well.
SB Nation (2/28/17): While Lunardi has the trio of Providence, Seton Hall, and Marquette all packed off to Dayton, Chris Dobbertean has them all in the field cleanly. He’s got Marquette headed off to Indianapolis as a #10 seed for a first round game against #7 Oklahoma State. Just like last week, that’s two spots clear of the First Four in Dobbertean’s estimation. As you can guess, there are seven Big East teams in this version of the bracket, too: #1 Villanova, #3 Butler, #5 Creighton, and #8 Xavier join the other three squads.
Sports Illustrated (2/26/17): The Golden Eagles slip one seed line in Michael Beller’s most recent update, but MU is still getting a pass on a jaunt to southwest Ohio. He’s got Marquette headed to the Midwest Region as a #11 seed for a first round contest against #6 Minnesota. #1 Villanova, #3 Butler, #5 Creighton, #9 Xavier, #10 Providence, and #11 Seton Hall yet once again gives the Big East seven teams in the tournament, with the Pirates the lone squad facing a spot in the First Four.
Fox Sports (2/28/17): Stewart Mandel has Marquette as a #9 seed. They were a #10 the last time we checked his work. Please feel free to draw your own conclusions. Anyway, this gives MU a first round match-up against #8 South Carolina in the Midwest Region. The same seven Big East squads all make it in here, too: #1 Villanova, #3 Butler, #6 Creighton, #9 Xavier, #10 Seton Hall, and #11 Providence, which is two spots clear from Dayton in this setup.
NBC Sports/College Basketball Talk (2/27/17): Amazingly, Dave Ommen has also moved Marquette out of Dayton and into the field proper since last week. They’re a #10 seed here, getting a first round game against #7 Miami (FL) out in Sacramento. With Seton Hall consigned to a trip to Dayton, there are seven Big East team’s in NBC’s bracket: #1 Villanova, #3 Butler, #7 Creighton, #10 Xavier, #10 Providence, and the #11 seeded Pirates.
Sporting News (2/27/17): I realized the other day that we were leaving these guys out of these roundups, so here they are now. Ryan Fagan doesn’t assemble a bracket, but merely lists teams by the seeds where he has them slotted. In this case, Marquette is a #10 seed, and presuming that his lists are in the order of his 1-68 seed list, MU is three spots clear from the First Four. A #10 seed would mean a first round game against a #7 seed, which would come from a group of Creighton, Maryland, Dayton, and South Carolina. #1 Villanova, #4 Butler, #7 Creighton, #9 Xavier, #9 Providence, and #11 Seton Hall round out the group of teams from the Big East.
Bracket Matrix (2/28/17): As you can probably guess by now, the Matrix has Marquette dodging a trip to Dayton, but only as the very last spot to do that. That would give MU a #11 seed and a first round game against a #6 seed: SMU, Wisconsin, Creighton, or Saint Mary’s. The Golden Eagles line up as the last of the seven Big East teams in the field, along with #1 Villanova, #3 Butler, #6 Creighton, #9 Xavier, #10 Providence, and #11 Seton Hall. Fun Fact: The Friars and the Pirates occupy the two spots just ahead of Marquette on Bracket Matrix’s seed list. For what it’s worth, MU is included on 110 of the 123 brackets that went into the Matrix this time around.