Bracketology 2020: Rhode Island, BYU and Auburn among biggest winners

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 05: Jordan Ford #30 of the Saint Mary's Gaels guards TJ Haws #30 of the Brigham Young Cougars during a semifinal game of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on March 5, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Cougars won 85-72. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – JANUARY 24: Markus Howard #0 of the Marquette Golden Eagles (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Marquette Golden Eagles – 16-6 (6-4 in Big East)

This is a team that is a very good position for the NCAA Tournament, projected as a 6 seed from our latest Bracketology on Friday night. That included the double-overtime win over Xavier and avoiding a dreaded “bad loss” on the resume. They lost the previous game last week at Butler, which also was in overtime.

On Saturday, the Golden Eagles took on a desperate DePaul team that had lost seven of its last eight Big East games. It ended up being eight of nine, thanks to Markus Howard going for a game-high 31 points in the 76-72. Despite the Blue Demons’ problems, it wouldn’t have been viewed as a bad loss at all. But considering how strong the Big East is overall, it’s important to get the home wins against those at the bottom when you’re the favorites.

What makes Marquette a big winner this week isn’t just about taking care of business from last week but it also sets them up well for a low-risk/high reward upcoming week. With upcoming games against Butler and Villanova, it wouldn’t be a big surprise if the Golden Eagles went 0-2. But since they won these two games, it wouldn’t have much of a negative effect on their overall resume. However, a 1-1 split or winning both put this team in a wonderful position to avoid being near the bubble. Not much to lose for Marquette this week but a whole lot to gain.

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