The Golden Eagles get a #9 seed in the field of 68.
For the first time since 2019, Marquette men’s basketball is in the NCAA tournament!
On Sunday evening, Greg Gumbel and friends announced the bracket for the 2022 NCAA men’s basketball national championship tournament and YOUR Golden Eagles are a #9 seed in the field. They’re in the East Region, and that gives them a first round game against #8 seed North Carolina.
Marquette is 19-12 at this point of the season after going 11-8 in Big East play and finishing as the #5 seed. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament, falling to Creighton for the third time this season. They are led in scoring and rebounding by Justin Lewis, who has blossomed into a First Team All-Big East player as a sophomore in Milwaukee.
North Carolina is 24-9 on the year after going 15-5 in the ACC. They beat Virginia in their first ACC tournament game before falling to eventual champion Virginia Tech in the semifinals. They are led by double-double machine Armando Bacot, and they have three more guys who average at least 13 points per game. Right off the bat I’ll tell you that North Carolina is KenPom’s #2 defensive rebounding team in the country, but that’s an advantage that will do them no good against Marquette anyway, as the Golden Eagles stink at offensive rebounding.
Elsewhere in the Big East, Villanova is the top seeded team in the league. They are the #2 seed in the South Region, and they will play #15 seed Delaware on Friday in the first round. Providence got the #4 seed in the Midwest Region, which is good…. but they have to play #13 South Dakota State, and the Jackrabbits are very good. Connecticut is a #5 seed in the West Region. They’ll be playing #12 seed New Mexico State in the first round in Buffalo on Thursday. Seton Hall picked up a #8 seed in the South Region, which sends them to San Diego for a first round game against #9 TCU. Creighton snags the #9 seed in the Midwest Region, so they will head to Fort Worth to play #8 San Diego State.
We know that Marquette’s game will be played on Thursday in Fort Worth, but we don’t know when exactly the game will be played. Now that the bracket is out, CBS and Turner will sit down with the NCAA to hammer out which game goes where. Keep your eyes and ears open, as I’m sure the athletic department will announce things as soon as they know.