A Marquette Bracketology Check: February 2, 2022

New week, new spin around the internets to see what the people are saying about YOUR Marquette men’s basketball team and their place in the 2022 NCAA tournament.

Let’s just get right to it, shall we?

SB Nation (2/1): Can I interest you in Marquette as a #5 seed? That’s where Chris Dobbertean has the Golden Eagles in the official bracketology of AE’s overlords. That gives them a first round game out in Pittsburgh in the West Region against a First Four entrant. The way the bracket goes here, Dobbertean has Florida and Oregon in this spot, but it could just as easily be Iowa or Wyoming instead. The second round potential matchup would be against either #4 LSU or #13 South Dakota State. There are six more Big East teams in this field: Providence (#3), Villanova (#4), Connecticut (#5), Xavier (#6), Seton Hall (#7), and Creighton (#10).

ESPN (2/1): Marquette moves up to a #5 seed for Joe Lunardi right now. He sends Marquette to Buffalo for the first round, where they would take on #12 seed Iona and head coach Rick Pitino. That would be fun. The East Region second round matchup would be either #4 Tennessee or #13 Drake. Once again, there are six more Big East squads in the field here: Villanova (#3), Providence (#4), Connecticut (#6), Xavier (#6), Seton Hall (#10), and Creighton (#11). The Bluejays are a First Four entrant to the field here.

CBS Sports (1/31): Jerry Palm updated his bracket on Monday morning, and he has the Golden Eagles as a #7 seed, down a spot from the last check-in we did. That puts them in the Midwest region and off to Indianapolis for the first round. That’s very midwestern, but facing #10 seed San Diego State isn’t. The second round would potentially be against either #2 Purdue or #15 Arkansas State. Six more Big East squads make the 68 here: Providence (#2), Villanova (#4), Connecticut (#5), Xavier (#6), Seton Hall (#9), and Creighton (#12). The Bluejays are a First Four entrant again here.

The Athletic ($, 1/28): Note the date here and remember that this is from before Marquette lost to Providence on Sunday. With that in mind, we’ve got the same MU/Iona 5 vs 12 game here that we saw up in ESPN’s bracket on Tuesday. The difference here is that it’s in the West Region, but in Pittsburgh anyway. It also means a potential second round game against either #4 Kentucky or #13 Toledo. I think my feelings about Marquette/Kentucky are well known. Brian Bennett goes with six more Big East teams in the field: Villanova (#3), Providence (#4), Connecticut (#6), Xavier (#6), Seton Hall (#9), and Creighton (#9).

Fox Sports (2/1): We stick with the 5/12 theme for Mike DeCourcy’s bracket here, and yes, Marquette is the #5 seed. It’s a first round game against a First Four squad, either San Diego State or Notre Dame. I wouldn’t hate seeing MU/ND in the tournament. The second round would potentially see either #4 Michigan State or #13 South Dakota State. Once again, six more conference friends get in here: Villanova (#3), Providence (#3), Connecticut (#5), Xavier (#7), Seton Hall (#11), and Creighton (#12).

Cracked Sidewalks (2/1): Our guy Alan Bykowski has Marquette as a #6 seed in his S-Curve layout. No bracket here, so we will just point out that this puts MU along side Iowa State, Ohio State, and Xavier. A #6 seed would be a first round game against a #11 seed, and those are San Diego State, Iowa, Oklahoma, Creighton, and Oregon. That’s five, but Creighton and Oregon are First Four participants. It’s looking an awful lot like the Big East will get seven total teams in as Bykowski has six more Big East teams: Villanova (#2), Connecticut (#4), Providence (#5), Xavier (#6), Seton Hall (#10), and Creighton (#11). As mentioned above, the Bluejays are a First Four team in this arrangement.

Sports Illustrated (2/2): Kevin Sweeney’s freshly issued Wednesday afternoon bracket projection inserts Marquette as the #6 seed in the West Region with a first round game against #11 Wyoming. That would pair them in the second round with a potential game against either #3 Houston or #14 Princeton. There are six more teams from the Big East in this field, but just barely: Villanova (#3), Providence (#4), Xavier (#5), Connecticut (#7), Seton Hall (#10), and Creighton (#11). The Bluejays are the very last team included here.

Haslametrics (2/2): As mentioned last time out, this is a purely analytical assessment of what the bracket “deserves” to look like. Erik Haslam’s algorithm slots the Golden Eagles in as a #6 seed alongside Alabama, Saint Mary’s, and Iowa State. As was the case before, a #6 seed means a game against a #11 seed, which are currently Arkansas, BYU, San Francisco, and Iona. We keep the six more Big East teams trend going here: Villanova (#3), Providence (#3), Xavier (#5), Connecticut (#8), Seton Hall (#12), and Creighton (#12). Both the Pirates and the Bluejays are First Four teams here.

T-Rank (2/2): Much like Haslametrics, this is merely a computer spitting out what it thinks the bracket should look like right this second. No finesse here. Marquette is in the #6 seed group here, with Ohio State Buckeyes, Xavier, and Iowa State as the other three in the group. There are six teams listed as #11 seeds here even though all four #12 seeds are marked as at-large bids, so I’m not sure what’s going on here. ANYWAY, MU would be lined up for a first round game against Miami, Iona, Wake Forest, Oklahoma, San Francisco, or Chattanooga here. Still going with six more Big East squads: Villanova (#3), Providence (#4), Xavier (#6), Connecticut (#7), Seton Hall (#10), and Creighton (#12). The Bluejays fall into the First Four in Dayton group here.

Bracket Matrix (2/1): The thing to remember about Bracket Matrix is that when it says “Updated February 1” it really means that it’s covering all the bracket updates through January 31st. That’s the nature of aggregating like this. Here, the Golden Eagles are a #7 seed. That’s fine. USC, Indiana, and Saint Mary’s are the other three in this group. This seeding lines up to a first round game against a #10 seed: Oklahoma, Murray State, and Wake Forest. Yes, that’s only three because the fourth #10 is Seton Hall and they can’t be a first round opponent for Marquette. One final time, six more Big East teams: Villanova (#3), Providence (#4), Xavier (#6), Connecticut (#6), Seton Hall (#10), and Creighton (#12). The Bluejays are one of the last four at-large teams in the field.