:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72063988/1246512241.0.jpg)
The Marquette Golden Eagles went into Madison Square Garden this week and came away with a Big East championship. It was the first time in school history the Golden Eagles won the Big East tournament. Marquette defeated St. John’s, UConn and Xavier en route to its first Big East title. The Golden Eagles entered the tourney ranked No. 6 in the AP Top 25. Now, Marquette will turn its sights to the 2023 NCAA Tournament next week. We go over what this championship means for Marquette’s potential seeding in the tourney.
Bracketology 2023
Marquette has a pretty solid resume but despite being ranked high in the AP, are just outside the top 12 in KenPom. Same goes for NET. The Golden Eagles have a great offense but shaky defense, which could make things tough late in the tournament. But as far as seeding goes, winning the conference can’t hurt.
Most Bracketologists pegged Marquette as a 3-seed heading into the Big East championship. With the blowout win over Xavier, chances are the Golden Eagles helped themselves jump up a spot to a 2-seed. We still have a few conference finals that could sway the committee one way or the other. If Purdue falls to Penn State in the Big Ten championship, that could help Marquette jump up to a 2-seed. But chances are Purdue is a 1 or 2 anyway. Houston will also face Memphis in the American championship.
If Houston and Purdue both win, plus UCLA beats Arizona in the Pac-12 championship, you can make a pretty easy case for those three teams as No. 1 seeds, plus Alabama or Kansas. So it becomes a bit of a logjam for the committee at the top. Texas also just beat up on the Jayhawks in the Big 12 championship, which could help them secure a top seed. So you’ve got six teams (maybe even more depending on how things settle) who have a legit case to be a No. 1 seed.
There’s also a scenario where UCLA, Purdue, Houston and Alabama all win their conference title games. Not to mention Arizona could beat UCLA and there’s another team who could make a case. Either way, all of this sort of just denies Marquette of any shot at a No. 1 seed. Or at least you’d think.