2024 NCAA Tournament Bracketology

[Galway Eagle]

Florida and Gonzaga are the two in thatb group I would prefer to avoid.  We can beat both at full strength but Florida is elite on the boards and Gonzaga will be undereseeded whereever they end up

This may be the first time in over a decade I'd actually not be scared of the Zags. Only big win is over a defense allergic kentucky team

[Newsdreams]

If MU is going to win NC, can't be afraid of any team.

[PGsHeroes32]

Lunardi has Hall in last byes. Nova and SHU in last 4 in. Prov in 1st team out.


Palm for some reason doesnt even have providence on the bubble

[wisblue]

Lunardi has Hall in last byes. Nova and SHU in last 4 in. Prov in 1st team out.


Palm for some reason doesnt even have providence on the bubble

Lunardi is not one of the best at this, but Palm is much worse.

[wadesworld]

Would be a real shame to see Providence miss the Tourney.

[FairWeatherEagle]

Thought this thread would be best for this question:

Do you think MU will have trouble against a team that is middlin' but has one great player....ala Ja Morant.  We seem to be able to deal with the teams with the good huge center. But are we susceptible to that 1-great player surrounded by average-below-average talent?  Any of these 14,15's or 6,7's that are like that?

Stevie is a great defender we can put on "that guy"....but a lot of his best work is help and off-ball.  So I wonder.

[Shark]

Thought this thread would be best for this question:

Do you think MU will have trouble against a team that is middlin' but has one great player....ala Ja Morant.  We seem to be able to deal with the teams with the good huge center. But are we susceptible to that 1-great player surrounded by average-below-average talent?  Any of these 14,15's or 6,7's that are like that?

Stevie is a great defender we can put on "that guy"....but a lot of his best work is help and off-ball.  So I wonder.

IMO the biggest concern is a team with big guards who can physically beat Kolek but also keep up with him.

[MarquetteMike1977]

ESPN Bracketology Updated Tuesday March 12th by Joe Lunardi. Marquette is listed as a Pod 2 Seed playing 15 Seed Quinnipiac  in Indianapolis. With the winner playing the winner of 7 Seed Florida and 10 Seed Michigan St In the Midwest Detroit Region.

[cheebs09]

ESPN Bracketology Updated Tuesday March 12th by Joe Lunardi. Marquette is listed as a Pod 2 Seed playing 15 Seed Quinnipiac  in Indianapolis. With the winner playing the winner of 7 Seed Florida and 10 Seed Michigan St In the Midwest Detroit Region.

I feel like that draw would be a little rough. MSU in Columbus and Indy back to back would be ridiculous. I would rather have ISU's draw in that bracket.

[MU82]

Bracketville, whom I believe brew and TAMU cited as one of the more reliable bracketologists, had dropped Marquette to a 3 after our losses to Creighton and UConn but now has us back on the 2-line (7th on S-curve).

Has us in the Detroit region. First/second round games in Indy, playing Colgate and then the winner of Boise State/TCU.

Also has Creighton as a 2 (8th on S-curve). And has 4 Big East teams on the bubble, with Seton Hall and St. John's in, Providence and Nova out.

[Pepe Sylvia]

Bracketville, whom I believe brew and TAMU cited as one of the more reliable bracketologists, had dropped Marquette to a 3 after our losses to Creighton and UConn but now has us back on the 2-line (7th on S-curve).

Has us in the Detroit region. First/second round games in Indy, playing Colgate and then the winner of Boise State/TCU.

Also has Creighton as a 2 (8th on S-curve). And has 4 Big East teams on the bubble, with Seton Hall and St. John's in, Providence and Nova out.

That's pretty much the consensus on Bracket Matrix right now. Gotta win some games to keep those spots though. UConn could just sit on the court and watch X/Butler practice jacking 3s and lose by 200 and they'd still get a 1 tho.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I feel very different about this year's team than I have in the past. I don't care about seed, location or opponent. Anybody...anywhere. This team can beat anyone with TK in the line-up.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

I feel very different about this year's team than I have in the past. I don't care about seed, location or opponent. Anybody...anywhere. This team can beat anyone with TK in the line-up.

I tend to agree but do think teams that rebound well and play really aggressive d can cause us problems. But we’ve seen plenty of that in BE play. Biggest things are Tyler being healthy of course, but also staying out of foul trouble along with Oso and Kam. Tourney games are always officiated much different than Big East play and I feel that has hurt BE teams more often than not in March.

[bilsu]

Two things I worry about.
An opponent's player having a career game, which is not expected. See loss to UW.
Getting into a game where the refs keep blowing the whistle.

[mutodd5]

Bulletin board material for Shaka.....

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/insider/story/_/id/39695637/mens-college-basketball-2024-ncaa-tournament-losing-teams-predictions

[The Thing]

Bulletin board material for Shaka.....

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/insider/story/_/id/39695637/mens-college-basketball-2024-ncaa-tournament-losing-teams-predictions

This article isn’t wrong…too many second chance points for an opposing team may very well end the season prematurely for our warriors.

[MarquetteMike1977]

Joe Lunardi ESPN has Marquette #7 on his S Curve too this morning.

[FairWeatherEagle]

Bracketville, whom I believe brew and TAMU cited as one of the more reliable bracketologists, had dropped Marquette to a 3 after our losses to Creighton and UConn but now has us back on the 2-line (7th on S-curve).

Has us in the Detroit region. First/second round games in Indy, playing Colgate and then the winner of Boise State/TCU.

Also has Creighton as a 2 (8th on S-curve). And has 4 Big East teams on the bubble, with Seton Hall and St. John's in, Providence and Nova out.

I hadnt heard of Bracketville....will look them up. Thanks.

But what keeps coming back to my mind whenever I see Bracket predictions these past few days is we are going to play Creighton...one will lose and one will win.  I know there are prelims...we have to beat Nova and CR has to beat whoever....but thats going to happen.  We will play them.     And no matter where anyone puts us today:
MU wins -> we are a 2
CR wins -> they get the 2
loser is a 3

Of course as many point out....2, 3 no matta really.
And there is still that fantasy hope that we win the BET and a group of irrational committee members deem us a 1

[BrewCity83]

Bracketville, whom I believe brew and TAMU cited as one of the more reliable bracketologists, had dropped Marquette to a 3 after our losses to Creighton and UConn but now has us back on the 2-line (7th on S-curve).

Has us in the Detroit region. First/second round games in Indy, playing Colgate and then the winner of Boise State/TCU.

Also has Creighton as a 2 (8th on S-curve). And has 4 Big East teams on the bubble, with Seton Hall and St. John's in, Providence and Nova out.

Putting aside our rooting interests for MU, to maximize BE bids, the BE Tourney could go like this:

Providence beats Georgetown and Creighton and is in.
Villanova beats DePaul and Marquette and is in.
Seton Halls plays St. John's; St. John's wins and they are probably both still safely in.

That would put UCONN, MU, Creighton, Seton Hall, St. John's, Nova, and Providence all in--7 teams.

Not likely, I know.  But that would be the best for the conference.

I'm still rooting for MU for sure, but this is my Plan B.

[Shooter McGavin]

I feel very different about this year's team than I have in the past. I don't care about seed, location or opponent. Anybody...anywhere. This team can beat anyone with TK in the line-up.

Yep. Especially with Kam back to himself.  Time to show they truly are the best back court in the country.

[wadesworld]

Putting aside our rooting interests for MU, to maximize BE bids, the BE Tourney could go like this:

Providence beats Georgetown and Creighton and is in.
Villanova beats DePaul and Marquette and is in.
Seton Halls plays St. John's; St. John's wins and they are probably both still safely in.

That would put UCONN, MU, Creighton, Seton Hall, St. John's, Nova, and Providence all in--7 teams.

Not likely, I know.  But that would be the best for the conference.

I'm still rooting for MU for sure, but this is my Plan B.

I'd laugh so hard if Georgetown ended Providence's hopes of a bid.

[wisblue]

Without getting into great detail, my review of the Team Sheets of the top 16 teams, and looking at how people who spend a lot more time on this than I do have ranked the teams in their seed lists, leads me to these conclusions:

1. There seems to be no controversy that Purdue, UConn, and Houston are clear number 1 seeds, and Tennessee, NC, and Arizona are the next 3 in line. The fact that those teams are the regular season champs of the Power 6 conferences solidifies their positions.

2. The resumes of MU, Creighton, Iowa State, and Baylor look very tight to me. Results of the conference tournaments could determine how these teams are placed relative to each other. Two of the teams will likely get 2 seeds and the other 2 will get 3 seeds.

3. Kentucky and Duke seem to be the biggest challengers to the four above but, to  my unprofessional and not totally objective eye, their resumes are clearly below the four above, and only a conference tournament title should move them up. Kentucky especially seems to me to be overplaced. They only have 8 total Q1 and Q2 wins whereas every team above them, and several below them are in double figures.Creighton has 15, and MU, ISU, and Baylor have 13.

4. The battle for the 2nd spot at Indy could be interesting. One question I have about that is whether Creighton would be placed in Indy or Memphis if they land above MU on the seed list. I haven’t seen the NCAA’s official distance chart, but Indy and Memphis are just about the same distance from Omaha. Iowa State would seem to be headed for Omaha no matter what, especially with Kansas’ fall to the 4 seed line. Memphis or Omaha would both be closer for Baylor than Indy and there should be a spot for them at one of those. Kentucky becomes the real spoiler there because if they win the SEC tournament and vault over MU they would take that spot if Creighton hasn’t already claimed it.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Glad you didn’t go into great detail.

[SaveOD238]

4. The battle for the 2nd spot at Indy could be interesting. One question I have about that is whether Creighton would be placed in Indy or Memphis if they land above MU on the seed list. I haven’t seen the NCAA’s official distance chart, but Indy and Memphis are just about the same distance from Omaha. Iowa State would seem to be headed for Omaha no matter what, especially with Kansas’ fall to the 4 seed line. Memphis or Omaha would both be closer for Baylor than Indy and there should be a spot for them at one of those. Kentucky becomes the real spoiler there because if they win the SEC tournament and vault over MU they would take that spot if Creighton hasn’t already claimed it.

With Kansas' struggles down the stretch, it seems likely that if Marquette doesn't go to Indy we will be in Omaha (along with Iowa St).  Sure, Omaha is a bit further away than Indy, but it's still within reasonable driving range for our fans AND it will be less likely to have lower seeds with nearby fan bases. 

Who else is even relatively close to Omaha? Outside of Nebraska there aren't many nearby schools. Are we worried about Drake fans?

[CountryRoads]

I'd laugh so hard if Georgetown ended Providence's hopes of a bid.

To those going: if this happens, please take videos of Providence fans. I’d pay for them.