Possible second round foe New Mexico? Yeah, I'll take that. Possible Elite 8 match up against Bucky Badger? Hell yeah.
Do you know the way to San Jose? Marquette does. Bring on the Huskies.
Here's a round-up of what people are saying about Marquette this morning.......
From USA Today:
After losing plenty of firepower from last year's tournament team, the Golden Eagles looked to be in a rebuilding mode but got things on track at the right time and turned into one of the Big East's better teams. Forward Lazar Hayward has stepped into the leadership role, and there's also experience found with Maurice Acker, Jimmy Butler and David Cubillan. This is a good three-point shooting team (39.9%) and is also solid at the free throw line (74.5%), but the Golden Eagles are guard-oriented and not very big.
Sporting News calls it the best 1st round game in the bracket:
The Huskies apparently are starting to resemble the team we all figured they'd be way back in the preseason. It's just been hard to tell because they play in the Pac-10. There aren't a lot of impressive victims in their seven-game winning streak. The only NCAA team was Cal in the conference final. The chance to watch UW's Quincy Pondexter matched against Marquette's Lazar Hayward-that alone makes this game compelling.
Ken Pomeroy predicts a 1 point MU win.
Luke Winn from SI talks MU:
If Marquette makes it that far, will it be due to its Buddhist philosophy, or its new shoes? The Golden Eagles played their past two NCAA tournaments wearing Converse, and didn't make it past the second round. They switched to Jordan Brand this season, and were hooked up with custom Air Jordan Icons (seen at right) last week. While rocking them at the Garden, Marquette knocked off St. John's and Villanova before getting blown out by Georgetown in the semifinals.
More after the jump.......
As always, Rosiak has quotes and stuff from the Selection party at the Annex.
Cracked Sidewalks points out that MU is 9th all-time in post-season bids.
The MU Athletic Dept offers up this video from the Selection party.
Preview from the Seattle Times.
The Michael Hunt of Seattle offers this column on the Huskies.
Fox Sports' Jeff Goodman sees a UW upset over MU.
UW coach Lorenzo Romar calls MU exceptional.
From Badger Land: Who goes further, Bucky or Buzz?
San Jose will have lots of nail-biter type games.
UW feels pretty confident.
NY Times: Big East has staying power in the Big Dance.
NY Times also sees the Pac-10 going on the offensive.
Dime Magazine has MU- UW a top first round match up.
Another guy saying MU - UW is a top first round match-up.
Bracketology 101 doesn't see how MU is a 6 seed.
Gadsden Times has MU into the Sweet 16.
Dickie V says Buzz Williams has done a super job after losing three stars; Lazar Hayward and company are physical