[Cracked Sidewalks] Marquette 2-Seed Rooting Guide

[brewcity77]

Since the NCAA released their top-16, Marquette has solidified their hold on a 3-seed. The Golden Eagles haven't lost a game, while the teams behind them on the 4/5 lines have gone 14-14 with every team except Texas Tech taking a loss. With that in mind, it's a good time to look back at Marquette's chances to get a 2-seed. Currently in the mix for the 2-line with Marquette are Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee, Michigan State, Kansas, Houston, & Purdue. So which teams can MU most likely get ahead of? Here's who we will be watching closely:

Continued: http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2019/02/marquette-2-seed-rooting-guide.html

[MU82]

Since the NCAA released their top-16, Marquette has solidified their hold on a 3-seed. The Golden Eagles haven't lost a game, while the teams behind them on the 4/5 lines have gone 14-14 with every team except Texas Tech taking a loss. With that in mind, it's a good time to look back at Marquette's chances to get a 2-seed. Currently in the mix for the 2-line with Marquette are Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee, Michigan State, Kansas, Houston, & Purdue. So which teams can MU most likely get ahead of? Here's who we will be watching closely:

Continued: http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2019/02/marquette-2-seed-rooting-guide.html

Thanks for this detailed rooting guide.

Having read this, to me a 2-seed looks possible but not very likely at all.

I'd love to be wrong because I think there's a pretty big difference between 2 and 3 when it comes to the quality of the first- and second-round opponents.

[LoudMouth]

Thanks for this detailed rooting guide.

Having read this, to me a 2-seed looks possible but not very likely at all.

I'd love to be wrong because I think there's a pretty big difference between 2 and 3 when it comes to the quality of the first- and second-round opponents.

You aren't kidding. We have been talking about how there is a clear jump from 26 to 27 in the rankings. As a 3 seed we will most likely get a 6 seed in the second round (21-24) where if we were a 2 seed we will at worst get a 7 seed in the second round and could very well jump into the groupings of teams with far less talent

[brewcity77]

Thanks for this detailed rooting guide.

Having read this, to me a 2-seed looks possible but not very likely at all.

I'd love to be wrong because I think there's a pretty big difference between 2 and 3 when it comes to the quality of the first- and second-round opponents.

I cautiously agree. That said, I think Michigan State & Tennessee both are likely to slide given their schedules. MSU is now without Nick Ward while Tennessee before the Kentucky game had played an easier conference schedule than Gonzaga.

If Michigan sweeps MSU & Tennessee drops 2, the door will be wide open and the only question will be who steps through. Houston's lack of Q1 chances makes it tough to see them moving up much.

More than anything, I think it comes to getting ahead of Kansas. If Texas Tech (Saturday) & KSU (Monday) can take down the Jayhawks, our chances improve exponentially.

[KampusFoods]

Win out and win the BET and they'd have a hard time keeping us on the 3-line. That said, I still expect 2 more regular season losses, and we are historically crappy at the Garden.

I'm more concerned about dropping to a 4 than I am about rising to a 2.

[NorthernDancerColt]

Thanks for this detailed rooting guide.

Having read this, to me a 2-seed looks possible but not very likely at all.

I'd love to be wrong because I think there's a pretty big difference between 2 and 3 when it comes to the quality of the first- and second-round opponents.

I have produced an urgent, more important rooting guide:

The Marquette for Big East Champs rooting guide. It goes like this...


Root for: Marquette

Root against: Villanova

[Galway Eagle]

I cautiously agree. That said, I think Michigan State & Tennessee both are likely to slide given their schedules. MSU is now without Nick Ward while Tennessee before the Kentucky game had played an easier conference schedule than Gonzaga.

If Michigan sweeps MSU & Tennessee drops 2, the door will be wide open and the only question will be who steps through. Houston's lack of Q1 chances makes it tough to see them moving up much.

More than anything, I think it comes to getting ahead of Kansas. If Texas Tech (Saturday) & KSU (Monday) can take down the Jayhawks, our chances improve exponentially.

Is Wade gonna be out against Kansas?

[Silkk the Shaka]

This is exactly what I needed today, thank you

In terms of upcoming order:

Sat      Feb     23   Kansas @ TTech Sat      Feb     23   Tennessee @ LSU Sun      Feb     24   MSU @ Mich Mon      Feb     25   Kansas vs. KSU Wed      Feb     27   Tennessee @ Ole Miss Sat      Mar     2   Purdue vs. Ohio St. Sat      Mar     2   MSU @ IU Sat      Mar     2   Tennessee vs. UK Sat      Mar     2   Houston vs. UCF Sun      Mar     3   Michigan @ Maryland Tue      Mar     5   Purdue @ MN Tue      Mar     5   Kansas @ OK Tue      Mar     5   Tennessee vs. Miss St. Sat      Mar     9   Kansas vs.Baylor Sat      Mar     9   MSU vs. Michigan Sat      Mar     9   Tennessee @ Auburn Sun      Mar     10    Houston @ Cincinnati

Edited to add Michigan @ Maryland, Wolverines are in play now too!

[MUBigDance]

Nice article...very pertinent info for the MU fan watching the scores...like me.

Side question...does Duke risk its 1 if Zion decides to go directly to the promised-land?

[brewcity77]

If he did, which he won't, then maybe. It would depend on what they did from now until the ACC Tourney.

[Galway Eagle]

With MSU winning last night does it make more sense to root for MSU to sweep Michigan now?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

With MSU winning last night does it make more sense to root for MSU to sweep Michigan now?

Possibly. Depends on how the next few games go. I'd imagine they're virtually tied on the committee's s curve now

[mu03eng]

Win out and win the BET and they'd have a hard time keeping us on the 3-line. That said, I still expect 2 more regular season losses, and we are historically crappy at the Garden.

I'm more concerned about dropping to a 4 than I am about rising to a 2.

In that scenario we'd almost be guaranteed a 2 seed. We wouldn't have lost a game in over a month and would have swept the entire Big East except for St Johns.

Honestly, if we win out in the regular season I don't think we can do worse than a 3 seed, even if we lose our first game in the BET(though I'd be nervous to be sure)

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Yeah, it would take a few unexpected losses for us to lose our 3 seed. The 4 teams that were given 4 seeds in the bracket reveal of all lost either multiple games or 1 game to a bad team (Nevada) while we have gone undefeated. 2/4 of the "others team considered" have lost multiple games, LSU has a lost a home game to an unrankend team (but has two huge wins to make up for it) and Texas Tech is undefeated. I haven't seen any other teams soaring up in the rankings behind those mentioned teams.

I think barring a total collapse, LSU and Texas Tech are the only two teams in striking distance of our 3 seed. And while we were the last 3 seed, Kansas just lost by a bajillion and Purdue also lost and has looked bad in wins against bad competition. Go 3-1 or better the rest of the way and I'm feeling pretty secure in our 3 seed come BET time.

[Its DJOver]

This might be a bit early, but come conference tourney week, what mid-majors should we be watching hoping for bid stealers?

Are VCU or Davidson good enough for an at-large?  Meaning we'd root for someone like SLU or Richmond making the A10 a 3 bid league.

Same with ODU in CUSA, could Western KY or UAB winning the conference tourney make it a 2 bid league?

Buffalo should get an at-large even if they don't win their con tourney right?

We'd obviously root against Nevada anyways, but if someone other than them, Utah St, or SDSU win, how many bids would the MW get?

Same story with Wofford in the Southern, South Dakota St in the Summit, and New Mexico State in the Western.  Any worthy of an at-large, or they all single bid conferences?

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

I still think getting a 2 seed is a tall order but I am more optimistic about being placed in Des Moines.   Tennessee falling is the key.

First, Duke and Virginia get placed in Columbia,  SC.  Gonzaga will be in SLC regardless.   Then, two of Kentucky,  Michigan State, and Michigan need to finish ahead of Tennessee.

That would account for the 2 spots in Columbus, with the 3rd team likely heading to Des Moines.  Tennessee and UNC would head Jacksonville.

Houston will be in Tulsa.  If Kansas is a 3, hope they go to Tulsa instead of Des Moines. Both sites are roughly the same distance for Kansas. If Kansas slips to a 4 and Marquette earns a 3, that's even better.

That leaves Marquette vs Purdue for the 2nd Des Moines spot.  The other teams vying for a 3 aren't that close to Des Moines, so I think Marquette has a good shot to be placed there.

[LAZER]

I cautiously agree. That said, I think Michigan State & Tennessee both are likely to slide given their schedules. MSU is now without Nick Ward while Tennessee before the Kentucky game had played an easier conference schedule than Gonzaga.

If Michigan sweeps MSU & Tennessee drops 2, the door will be wide open and the only question will be who steps through. Houston's lack of Q1 chances makes it tough to see them moving up much.

More than anything, I think it comes to getting ahead of Kansas. If Texas Tech (Saturday) & KSU (Monday) can take down the Jayhawks, our chances improve exponentially.

I'm curious to see how the committee handles KU's road record.

[brewcity77]

This might be a bit early, but come conference tourney week, what mid-majors should we be watching hoping for bid stealers?

Are VCU or Davidson good enough for an at-large?  Meaning we'd root for someone like SLU or Richmond making the A10 a 3 bid league.

Same with ODU in CUSA, could Western KY or UAB winning the conference tourney make it a 2 bid league?

Buffalo should get an at-large even if they don't win their con tourney right?

We'd obviously root against Nevada anyways, but if someone other than them, Utah St, or SDSU win, how many bids would the MW get?

Same story with Wofford in the Southern, South Dakota St in the Summit, and New Mexico State in the Western.  Any worthy of an at-large, or they all single bid conferences?

In order, VCU yes, Davidson probably not, ODU maybe, Buffalo yes, Nevada yes, Utah State probably, SDSU no, Wofford yes, South Dakota State no, New Mexico State maybe.

Others that warrant at large consideration are Lipscomb, Belmont, UNC Greensboro, & Furman. Probably outside but worth a look would be Murray State & Hofstra. Maybe St Mary's, but seems unlikely.

[MUMountin]

With MSU winning last night does it make more sense to root for MSU to sweep Michigan now?

I think so.  I didn't get a chance to post this last week, but I was a bit surprised that brew only had Michigan St. on his list and not Michigan as well--really a sweep in either direction works in our favor.  Although Michigan St. did make some sense with the injuries, I think Michigan has also looked vulnerable the last few weeks (four losses now in the last few weeks). 

Now that Michigan St. won the first game on the road, I think we should hope that the Wolverines stumble down the stretch.  They still have a tough remaining schedule--Q1 games at both Maryland and MSU and a bit of a "trap" game this week against a decent Nebraska team that has its tourney hopes on the line. 

[HowardsWorld]

Villanova is really all that stands in our way. I fully believe we win the 3 after so we could be entering the BET at 27-4 or 26-5 with a loss to nova. From there if we win the tournament at 29-5 or 30-4 either way they will get a 2 seed. No team in the history of the Big East that won the tournament and conference has ever been given less than a 2 seed.  Keep in mind all the teams ahead of us unless they win there tournament will lose another game and that includes michigan, michigan st and purdue all of which are around our seed. Tennessee is going to falter a few more times as well.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Villanova is really all that stands in our way. I fully believe we win the 3 after so we could be entering the BET at 27-4 or 26-5 with a loss to nova. From there if we win the tournament at 29-5 or 30-4 either way they will get a 2 seed. No team in the history of the Big East that won the tournament and conference has ever been given less than a 2 seed.  Keep in mind all the teams ahead of us unless they win there tournament will lose another game and that includes michigan, michigan st and purdue all of which are around our seed. Tennessee is going to falter a few more times as well.

It's still possible for us to win out and be stuck with a 3 seed.

The teams currently above or right around us don't play each other that often.

Duke: Plays at UNC
Gonzaga: Doesn't play anyone around us
Virginia: Doesn't play anyone around us
Kentucky: Plays at Tennessee
North Carolina: Plays vs Duke
Tennessee: Plays Kentucky
Houston: Doesn't play anyone around us
Michigan State: Plays vs Michigan
Michigan: Plays at Michigan State
Kansas: Doesn't play anyone around us
Purdue: Doesn't play anyone around us

North Carolina beats Duke, Tennessee beats Kentucky, Michigan State beats Michigan, Michigan beats Michigan State in the B1GT final, everyone else wins the games they are supposed to and plays to seed in their conference tournament. No matter what Marquette does, if most of the above plays out, they will be a 3 seed. It will be one of the best 3 seed resumes in history, but a 3 seed none the less. Now chances are, there will be some surprises along the way. Let's just hope that they only surprises that Marquette is involved with is that they win out the regular season and the BET.

[HowardsWorld]

One positive then to not being a 2 seed is the likelihood of being the strongest 3 seed which means we would avoid Duke,Kentucky,North Carolina, Gonzaga, virginia and michigan state. If we are are a 3 i would hope that the 2 would be Tennesee, Houston or Michigan. Since everyone is so close this year the difference between a 2 an 3 may be minimal

[LAZER]

Villanova is really all that stands in our way. I fully believe we win the 3 after so we could be entering the BET at 27-4 or 26-5 with a loss to nova. From there if we win the tournament at 29-5 or 30-4 either way they will get a 2 seed. No team in the history of the Big East that won the tournament and conference has ever been given less than a 2 seed.  Keep in mind all the teams ahead of us unless they win there tournament will lose another game and that includes michigan, michigan st and purdue all of which are around our seed. Tennessee is going to falter a few more times as well.

When's the last time the Big East was this weak?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

One positive then to not being a 2 seed is the likelihood of being the strongest 3 seed which means we would avoid Duke,Kentucky,North Carolina, Gonzaga, virginia and michigan state. If we are are a 3 i would hope that the 2 would be Tennesee, Houston or Michigan. Since everyone is so close this year the difference between a 2 an 3 may be minimal

This is a good point, though it doesn't always end up this way. If I understand what the selection committee chair said during the bracket reveal correctly, the committee adds up those protected seeds and tries to make sure the pods are within 5 "points" of each other. So even if we are the top 3 seed, we could be put with the top 2 seed or top 1 seed, it would just mean that we are also with one of the lesser 4/2 seeds.

Personally, I'd rather have the 2 seed. It guarantees a theoretically easier path to at least the Sweet 16.

[mu03eng]

One positive then to not being a 2 seed is the likelihood of being the strongest 3 seed which means we would avoid Duke,Kentucky,North Carolina, Gonzaga, virginia and michigan state. If we are are a 3 i would hope that the 2 would be Tennesee, Houston or Michigan. Since everyone is so close this year the difference between a 2 an 3 may be minimal

Conspiracy me says we end up in Duke's bracket no matter what.