Marquette Golden Eagles are among the list of teams that just missed the cut when it came to the NCAA Tournament. Marquette could not get into the tournament in consecutive years. It’s disappointing to say the least, but the Golden Eagles can still continue their season with the NIT where they could make a deep run. Marquette fans should not be waking up this morning and be mad at the NCAA Committee, rather, they should be upset at the multiple missed opportunities throughout the year for the Golden Eagles that would have helped them into the tournament. You’ll just wonder what if a few hundred times about several different close games throughout the year.

Marquette never got a marquee win. To the committee, that appeared to be a problem. They lost close home games to Villanova and Xavier during the year. With Nova, the refs made a terrible call that affected the final outcome of the game. With Xavier, they couldn’t make a layup to save their soul. If Marquette wins either of those games, they might be dancing today. If they win both, they’re definitely in the mix. Let’s not forget that Wichita State could have been added to this resume as well, albeit, that game wasn’t very close. Marquette never had that signature win all season. They beat the teams they were supposed to but never had that one win that served a security blanket for the team.

Golden Eagles also had themselves a host of bad losses this year as well. Those ones may sting a little more than the ones above because they were silly, undisciplined losses that shouldn’t have too place. The DePaul loss was a real killer. Blue Demons weren’t very good this season and losing to them is about the worst thing you can do in the Big East. Given some of St. John’s wins, the Red Storm loss wasn’t as bad, but shitting your pants there isn’t recommended. The non-conference home loss to Georgia hurt as well considering the Bulldogs finished 12th in conference. That plus the home loss to Providence are two biggest missteps at the Bradley Center that could have been avoided.

Marquette will take on Harvard on Wednesday night in the first round of the NIT playing the winner of Oregon/Rider if they advance in the tournament. Let’s hope the Golden Eagles can keep this season going for a little while.