And Now, A Pre-Xavier Look At Marquette In The Bracketology World

Before Marquette men’s basketball has a chance to put a stamp on their spot in first place in the Big East on Wednesday evening, let’s take a quick spin around the internet and see what people are thinking about the Golden Eagles when it comes to where they might land in the NCAA tournament coming up in about a month. First, some quick background information as to what Marquette’s tournament profile looks like right now.

Record: 20-6, 12-3 Big East
NET Ranking: #15
Vs Quadrant 1 Opponents: 4-5
Vs Quadrant 2: 4-0
Vs Quadrant 3: 5-1
Vs Quadrant 4: 7-0

Games Remaining

Vs Quadrant 1: Two, including Wednesday vs Xavier
Vs Quadrant 2: One
Vs Quadrant 3: One
Vs Quadrant 4: One

Onwards to the Brackets!

SB Nation (2/14): We start things out with our Blogging Overlords, and Chris Dobbertean has the Golden Eagles as a #3 seed and #12 overall and holding things down as the automatic bid placeholder out of the Big East. That’s neat. Marquette is in the Midwest Region and headed to Columbus for the first round against #14 seed Hofstra, the automatic bid holder out of the CAA. The hypothetical second round matchup is either #6 Rutgers or a #11 seed First Four winner from a Mississippi State/Oregon game. I think that game can’t get paired that way here because MSU has to avoid Marquette, but it’s not that big of a deal for projections right now. There are four other Big East teams here, and that’s going to be pretty standard: Xavier (#4), UConn (#4), Creighton (#5), and Providence (#8). Seton Hall gets Next Four Out status.

ESPN (2/14): We’ve got another #3 seed here from Joe Lunardi. This one is in the South Region, but it still results in a first round game in Columbus as well as against #14 seed Hofstra. The theoretical second round game would be against either #6 Iowa or #11 Boise State. There are four other Big East teams here: Xavier (#4), UConn (#5), Creighton (#5), and Providence (#8). Seton Hall gets Next Four Out status.

CBS Sports (2/13): Jerry Palm is still a little more hesitant about the Golden Eagles, as he has them as the #4 seed in the West Region in his latest projection. This sends them to Albany for the first round with a game against the #13 seeded Bradley Fighting Brian Wardles. If MU were to win, that would get them a second round game against either #5 Saint Mary’s or #12 Utah Valley. There are four other Big East teams here: Xavier (#3), UConn (#5), Creighton (#6), and Providence (#7).

The Athletic (2/10) ($): We stick with the #4 seed for Marquette here, and we combine a few things that we’ve seen so far. It’s the South Region, but a trip to Albany for the first round against #13 seed and old Conference USA foe Southern Miss for an all-Golden Eagles fight. The second round would potentially be either #5 Miami or #12 Liberty, and as always, we will be cheering against Liberty around these parts. There are four other Big East teams here: Xavier (#3), UConn (#5), Creighton (#6), and Providence (#7). Seton Hall gets Next Four Out status.

Fox Sports (2/14): My dream is that Fox starts giving a damn about having a website again at some point in the future, at least if the Big East re-ups with them for the television contract. Until then, we’ll be on Twitter for Mike DeCourcy’s bracket projection, where Marquette is a #3 seed. That gets them a first round contest against #14 Utah Valley, the autobid holder out of the WAC. The projected second round game would be against either #6 San Diego State or #11 North Carolina, and I don’t know if I relish the idea of seeing UNC in back-to-back tournaments. There are four other Big East teams here: Xavier (#4), UConn (#5), Creighton (#6), and Providence (#8). Seton Hall gets Next Four Out status.

Cracked Sidewalks (2/12): Friend Of The Show Alan Bykowski installs Marquette as a #4 seed here, sending them to Albany in the East Region. That would mean a first round game against #13 seed Dayton out of the Atlantic 10, and no, I’m not interested in playing the Flyers ever again, no matter how it works out to get us there. If there’s a win, that would mean a second round game against either #5 Saint Mary’s or #12 seed Liberty. Again, awful. There are four other Big East teams here: Xavier (#3), UConn (#4), Creighton (#6), and Providence (#8). Seton Hall gets Next Four Out status.

Haslametrics (2/14): As always, this isn’t a bracket projection, just an organization of teams into a seed list by way of an algorithm, and this is if the season ended right now, not projecting what might happen down the line this season. With that in mind, Marquette is the last #4 seed here, falling in alongside Kansas State, Saint Mary’s, and Gonzaga, and one spot ahead of top #5 seed San Diego State. A #4 seed means a first round game against a #13 seed, and those would be Drake, VCU, UC Santa Barbara, and yes, stupid ass Liberty. There are four other Big East teams here: Xavier (#3), UConn (#3), Creighton (#5), and Providence (#11).

T-Rank (2/14): Just like Haslametrics, this is “if the season ended today” as spit out by a computer. This is a good computer, because it has Marquette as the last #3 seed alongside Connecticut, Tennessee, and Virginia. That would mean a first round game against the #14 seeds, which are UC Santa Barbara, Yale, Furman, and Iona. Do y’all want to see Rick Pitino in the NCAA tournament? There are four other Big East teams here: UConn (#3), Xavier (#4), Creighton (#5), and Providence (#9).

Bracket Matrix (2/13): Please remember that while the Matrix updated on February 13th, that means that the brackets had to be published before the update to make it in. With that in mind, Marquette averages out as the best #4 seed in the Matrix, and they appear on all 100 brackets. Xavier is the team that lands as the lowest ranked #3 seed, and MU is followed up by Gonzaga, Iowa State, and Connecticut as the other #4 seeds. The #13 seeds, aka the first round opponent pool, are Kent State, Drake, Utah Valley, and VCU, as the Rams get to hold the autobid from the Atlantic 10 for the time being. Can you just imagine The Narrative if Shaka Smart faces VCU in the first round? There are four other Big East teams here: Xavier (#3), UConn (#4), Creighton (#6), and Providence (#8). Seton Hall is listed, but they appear on just two brackets, one as a #10 and the other as a #11.