The #5 Marquette Golden Eagles dominated the Providence Friars on Wednesday night at home by a final score of 91-69 and are ready for the NCAA Tournament. Marquette scored 50 first-half points and had a 24-point halftime lead at home against Providence. The Golden Eagles have one of the best teams in all of college basketball.
Marquette is currently one of the number two seeds in the NCAA Tournament, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. They are projected to be in the Midwest Region and the one seed in that region are the Purdue Boilermakers. Those two teams faced each other earlier in the season and Purdue won that matchup over Marquette.
They have the Marquette Golden Eagles projected to face the #15 Sam Houston State Bearcats out of Conference USA. The Golden Eagles would probably win that game easily in the NCAA Tournament.
Marquette has one of the most talented rosters in all of college basketball this season. Tyler Kolek, Chase Ross, Oso Ighodaro, Kam Jones, and David Joplin are some of the key players on this roster. Stevie Mitchell is also special for them on the defensive end of the floor.
He has a chance to win the Big East Defensive Player of the Year Award. Mitchell is averaging 2.0 steals per game this season for Marquette. Another concern for this basketball team is the oblique injury for Tyler Kolek he suffered in Wednesday’s win against the Providence Friars.
The Chance For the #5 Marquette Golden Eagles To Get a 1 Seed in the NCAA Tournament is To Once Again Win the Big East Tournament
Marquette will not have an easy schedule in the regular season for the final two of three games for head coach Shaka Smart. They will have to go on the road against the #12 Creighton Blue Jays this Saturday and then host the #3 UCONN Huskies the following Wednesday. The season finale will be next Saturday on the road against the Xavier Musketeers.
With the Golden Eagles having a 22-6 overall record and a 13-4 record in BIG East Conference play, they have a shot to be the one seed in the NCAA Tournament. The only two locks for one seed appear to be the Houston Cougars and the Purdue Boiler Makers.
The UCONN Huskies and the Tennessee Volunteers as of right now will get them, but all of that can change. The Golden Eagles are the biggest threat to those teams to snatch them. What if Marquette wins out and also wins the Big East Tournament?
It would be very hard to not make them a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament, especially since they could have very well knocked off UCONN twice. A win over Creighton would also give the Golden Eagles the season sweep.
There is a way that two big east teams get the one seed. Marquette wins every game except for UCONN in next week’s matchup and also wins the Big East title in the tournament. The Tennessee Volunteers also don’t win the SEC Tournament and struggle with ranked opponents like the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Kentucky Wildcats, and the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Tennessee, UCONN, and Marquette are all in contention for the other two number-one seeds at this point. If the Marquette Golden Eagles don’t get a one-seed, they will be a very dangerous two-seed that no one will want to play in the NCAA Tournament.
