Arguably the best sporting event of the year just got started with the First Four in Dayton, Ohio as March Madness is now officially under way, but the intensity is about to ramp up. The first round will get started in just a couple of hours on Thursday afternoon. The regular season and every conference tournament provided a lot of action and entertainment, but nothing compares to March Madness. It's the most wonderful time of the year, and #2 seed Marquette basketball team is hoping to make some noise this tournament.
There is so much to love about March Madness, and the first week of the tournament is one of the best stretches in all of sports. Basketball begins at noon and there are countless good games all day and into the night. College basketball fans will be setting up multiple TVs to be able to take in as much March Madness action at once as humanly possible. Marquette basketball fans will have to wait longer than most to watch their team play, however, as they don't get going against 15 seed Western Kentucky until Friday afternoon at 2:00 ET. Still, there is plenty of action to take in before then.
The upsets are always special as well. It seems like every season there is at least one underdog team that captures America's heart and makes a surprise deep run in March Madness. For example, #16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson took down #1 seed Purdue last year and ended up putting up a good fight in the second round too. They lost to Florida Atlantic, however. Then, #9 said Florida Atlantic turned into the cinderella team as they marched all the way to the Final Four. Upsets are one of the best parts of college basketball, and something about March Madness brings them out. We will likely have a cinderella team to root for in the next week. Marquette is a two seed this year and they are hoping to avoid the big upset in the first round as 15 seeds have pulled them off before. The Golden Eagles are coming for a national title.
Another great part of March Madness are the historic performances put on by individual players. Every so often we will see a player completely take over a game and put their team on their back, and they sometimes carry their squad all the way to a national title. It's always fun to watch. When it gets to the later stages of the tournament, everyone knows that player is getting the ball, and still, no one can stop him. Those kind of take overs are always extremely fun to watch in March Madness, and Marquette basketball has some players that are capable of making a run like this. If they want to win it all, they will need guys to step up and put the team on their back.
Marquette basketball has been terrific this season
Marquette is a two seed for a reason as they have been very good this season. The Golden Eagles finished the regular season with a 23-8 overall record and a 14-6 conference record. The #1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, UConn basketball, is also in the Big East, so that made it difficult to win any conference titles, but Marquette was close.
UConn did win the Big East regular season title and the conference tournament, but Marquette was right behind them in both of those races. The Golden Eagles finished in second place in the standings, and they made it all the way to the Big East Tournament title game. However, Marquette was missing their star, Tyler Kolek, in that game, and he should be back and healthy for the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Eagles put up a good fight for most of that game, but the Huskies did pull away in the end. When they are healthy, however, Marquette can hang with any team on this bracket.
The time is now for Marquette. The Golden Eagles are back in the NCAA Tournament as a #2 seed, and they are hoping to avenge last season's upset loss as a two seed. They lost to seven seed Michigan State in the round of 32. This season, Marquette is coming for a national title, and here is why they are capable of winning it all.
Healthy Tyler Kolek
Playing in the Big East Tournament without Tyler Kolek showed how good Marquette basketball is, even though they lost in the championship game to UConn. Kolek is the heart and soul for this Golden Eagles team, and they were able to cruise to the championship game and put up a good fight against the top team in college basketball, UConn. The Huskies pulled away late, but Marquette hung around for awhile. With Kolek back and healthy, Marquette is good enough to beat anybody on this bracket. He will certainly have to bring his A-game, and if he does, the Golden Eagles could go on a big run.
Marquette is battle-tested
Playing in the Big East will come in handy for Marquette. Yes, the conference only got three teams in the NCAA Tournament, but all three of those teams are top three seeds. Also, there were a lot of bid-stealers out there this season, and that knocked some other Big East schools off the bubble. At the end of the day, teams like St. John's, Seton Hall, Providence and Villanova are all solid teams, and Marquette has played a lot of tournament caliber teams all year long. They aren't going to be going up against a lot of talent that is better than what they've already seen.
Matchups in their region
Lastly, Marquette's bracket sets up nicely for them, and they have a good path to the Elite Eight. Obviously, nothing is going to come easy in the big dance, but the Golden Eagles should be able to survive the first weekend and get to the Sweet 16, and then they could be looking at a matchup with Kentucky. This is a good matchup for Marquette because of the Wildcats' defense. Yes, Kentucky can score a lot of points, but their defense has major flaws. The Golden Eagles should matchup against them well, and then the next three games would likely be a gauntlet, but they are good enough make it through if they get the right matchups and play their A-game.
Marquette basketball is going to be a fun team to watch in the NCAA Tournament, and if they can stay healthy, they will be a very tough out.
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