40% of Yahoo brackets have Murray State over Marquette; Most popular 12-5 upset

[Eldon]

Most popular 12-5 Round of 64 upset pick: Murray State over Marquette (40.3 percent)

My take: The public loving a 27-win mid-major with the potential No. 2 pick in the NBA draft is hardly a big surprise, but it's worth noting that Belmont is the only top 100 team Ja Morant's Murray State Racers have beaten this season. You have to count on Morant putting his team on his back just like he did for stretches of the OVC title game. Marquette enters this game having dropped five of its past six, but the Golden Eagles still aren't an ideal draw for Murray State in some respects. The Racers don't have a perimeter stopper to put on Markus Howard, nor do they have the outside shooters to unlock a Marquette defense that is good at making it hard to score at the rim.[/i]


https://sports.yahoo.com/here-are-yahoo-users-favorite-ncaa-tournament-underdogs-dark-horses-title-picks-162628043.html

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Let's bust some brackets!  #bulletinBoard

[GooooMarquette]

Should make it easier for some MU fan to win the big national brackets....

[MURFC]

And last I saw, 65% of the bets against the spread were going on Murray State (that was at a +4 line). Feeling very much like an underdog here.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Think it's 43% on ESPN brackets

[BM1090]

And last I saw, 65% of the bets against the spread were going on Murray State (that was at a +4 line). Feeling very much like an underdog here.

Weird to feel that way when all models have us as a favorite.

[Goose]

Not my bracket!!

[dgies9156]

Let me see if I get this right:

1) Murray State has no Quad 1 wins.
2) The only team in the tournament Murray State has defeated was Belmont College. And that was on the second try.
3) Marquette has defeated Kansas State, Louisville, Buffalo, Wisconsin, Villanova and was once ranked as high as 10 in the country. We have a 17 seed for the entire tournament.

Amid all of this, 43 percent of the Yahoo bracket people think Murray State can beat us??????

Good God, this country isn't that stupid???????

[Johnny B]

Let me see if I get this right:

1) Murray State has no Quad 1 wins.
2) The only team in the tournament Murray State has defeated was Belmont College. And that was on the second try.
3) Marquette has defeated Kansas State, Louisville, Buffalo, Wisconsin, Villanova and was once ranked as high as 10 in the country. We have a 17 seed for the entire tournament.

Amid all of this, 43 percent of the Yahoo bracket people think Murray State can beat us??????

Good God, this country isn't that stupid???????

Its all Ja morant hype and the 12-5 match that combine to make people think this. also the fact MU has struggled lately makes sense

[Oldgym]

Let me see if I get this right:

1) Murray State has no Quad 1 wins.
2) The only team in the tournament Murray State has defeated was Belmont College. And that was on the second try.
3) Marquette has defeated Kansas State, Louisville, Buffalo, Wisconsin, Villanova and was once ranked as high as 10 in the country. We have a 17 seed for the entire tournament.

Amid all of this, 43 percent of the Yahoo bracket people think Murray State can beat us??????

Good God, this country isn't that stupid???????

Recency bias.

[Miss Katie’s]

Think it's 43% on ESPN brackets

I just saw 42% on CBS Sports brackets.  Next closest was 36% for Oregon over Bucky. 

[GoldenEagle323]

Its most popular because EVERYONE knows who Ja Morant is

[Stronghold]

[JWags85]

Let me see if I get this right:

1) Murray State has no Quad 1 wins.
2) The only team in the tournament Murray State has defeated was Belmont College. And that was on the second try.
3) Marquette has defeated Kansas State, Louisville, Buffalo, Wisconsin, Villanova and was once ranked as high as 10 in the country. We have a 17 seed for the entire tournament.

Amid all of this, 43 percent of the Yahoo bracket people think Murray State can beat us??????

Good God, this country isn't that stupid???????

People are buying into the Morant hype and that makes it an easy upset pick. I'm in a Calcutta where 8 teams bid on each team and you make money depending on how far your teams progress. I'm on a team with some pretty knowledgeable CBB fans, and they were clamoring for us to bid big on Murray St.

"Morant will go for 50 and 15 if he needs to"
"He's like Steph Curry and Davidson"
"He can single handedly carry them to a S16 or E8"

People just see lottery pick and a mid major with less than 5 losses and turn off logic.

He wasn't good enough to single handedly carry them past Auburn or Belmont or Bama, but he can just turn it on at will and smoke two top 15 teams back to back?  Not saying Marquette will easily win, but my god. Not to mention he's not a great 3pt shooter and that's normally key to these supernova midmajor runs.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Silence of the lambs, aina?

[Norm]

Remember also that one of Belmont's best players, Nick Muszynski, who scored 20 on Murray State when they lost to Belmont in the regular season, did not play in the OVC championship game when Murray State won.

[MU82]

Given all the anecdotal evidence I had heard that seemed to show everybody picking Murray State, I frankly am surprised it's only in the 40% range on all these national sites.

[BM1090]

Remember also that one of Belmont's best players, Nick Muszynski, who scored 20 on Murray State when they lost to Belmont in the regular season, did not play in the OVC championship game when Murray State won.

Huh. Didn't know that. He's the big guy, right? He looked great against Temple.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Seth Davis just said MU is not very good defensively.  Seth, you reading off your notes from last year?

[brewcity77]

The upset I wish I had picked is Tennessee losing to Colgate. The Raiders have a 6'10" guy that can stroke the three. If it turns into a shootout that could be fun. But I only do one bracket & stick with it, so oh well.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

The upset I wish I had picked is Tennessee losing to Colgate. The Raiders have a 6'10" guy that can stroke the three. If it turns into a shootout that could be fun. But I only do one bracket & stick with it, so oh well.

Man I hope not, I have Tennessee losing to Duke in the finals.

[Norm]

Huh. Didn't know that. He's the big guy, right? He looked great against Temple.

Yep, that's the one.

[JWags85]

Seth Davis just said MU is not very good defensively.  Seth, you reading off your notes from last year?

My god he's become absolute trash. I used to kind of like him, but he's turning into a complete hack

[brewcity77]

Man I hope not, I have Tennessee losing to Duke in the finals.

I never change my picks, never pick 15s, but I broke both rules. I like Colgate I'm sure more than I should. Both teams play good offense, Colgate has two bigs that can shoot from the arc, that could be really fun.

And now that I made the pick, UT probably wins by 29.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

The upset I wish I had picked is Tennessee losing to Colgate. The Raiders have a 6'10" guy that can stroke the three. If it turns into a shootout that could be fun. But I only do one bracket & stick with it, so oh well.

I think Tennessee has a shot to a FF, if they're ginna lose this weekend it's going to be to Cincy in a virtual road foams.

[GOO]

If you're not an MU fan, and you need to pick a few upsets, the Murray State one is probably one of the upset picks to go with.  No surprise there.  Let's hope that our bigs stay out of foul trouble and protect the rim.