Bracketology 2023: Penn State, Marquette and Utah State among biggest winners

Marquette

Quite honestly, Marquette is a great place to start because the Golden Eagles had one of the best victories on Friday, taking care of business against a talented and hot Connecticut team in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament. Marquette was already in super impressive shape with their Big East regular season title and their blowout win over Baylor, but each win this week just keeps them looking better and better.

Against the Huskies, the Golden Eagles got 17-point performances from both lead scorer Tyler Kolek and bench forward David Joplin. Their 70-68 win against the Huskies was their second straight close call in the Big East Tournament, but they did enough to narrowly pull out another solid win. Though they were outrebounded by a decent margin, they also hit 11 3-pointers and had another efficient offensive performance, getting their second win of the season over Connecticut.

Marquette secured their 7th Quad 1 win of the season and beat the 11th-ranked team in the nation to secure their place in the Big East Tournament finals. A victory against Xavier for the title might put them firmly in the category for a 2-seed, while a 3-seed would’ve been more likely with a loss against the Huskies. The Golden Eagles are maneuvering into position and have one of the best offensive teams in the nation; there are plenty of reasons to fear this squad.