When CBS began to reveal brackets on Sunday night (By the way, they did a great job bringing back the old school and leaving Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson off the broadcast), Villanova received a sixth seed. I thought for sure this meant Marquette would be knocked down to a six or seventh seed. But the committee had other ideas handing Marquette a five seed in Hartford, Connecticut to play Murray State. The committee says they do not try for headlines but the chance to see Ja Morant against Markus Howard was too tasty.

#mubb is the No. 5 seed in the West Region and will face 12th-seeded Murray State in Hartford, Conn. #WeAreMarquette pic.twitter.com/WsKNiQCKMe

— Marquette Basketball (@MarquetteMBB) March 17, 2019

Golden Eagles will be the most popular upset likely. Everyone will be all over Murray State’s dick which I get, but the Racers have not been as strong as Morant is as an NBA prospect. If Golden Eagles advance, they will play either Florida State or Vermont. Florida State is a rough matchup for Marquette considering all of the size they can throw at the Golden Eagles, but Vermont will not go down without a fight especially on the East Coast. If Golden Eagles can get back to the Sweet 16, they’ll head west to set up a matchup with Gonzaga.

Last time Marquette and Murray State met was again a popular upset pick in the second round when the Racers were 31-2. Marquette beat them rather handily with a 62-53 victory. Don’t be surprised if this is the game that kicks off the tournament at 11:15 am on CBS.

Charlie.